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PRINCETON,    N.  J.                                   | 

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Jones,   William,    1762-1846. 

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THE 

HISTORY 

OF    THE 

FROM   THE 

BIRTH  OF  CHRIST  TO  THE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY, 

INCLUDING  THE 

VERY  IjYTERESTIJVG  ACCOUNT 


WALDEZffSES    A97D    ALBXaENSES. 

IN    TWO    VOLUMES. 


VOL.  II. 


By  WILLIAM  JONES, 

Author  of  the  Biblical   Cydofcedia,  Sfc. 
FIRST  AMERICAN  FROM  THE  FOURTH  LONDON  EDITION, 


PUBLISHED    BY 

SPENCER   H.    CONE. 


J^EW-YORK: 
PRINTED    BY    GRAY   &  BUNCE,    347  PEARL-STREET, 

1824. 


'  i 


I 


Chronological  Tables  to  Vol.  II vi 

CHAPTER  V. 

THE    HISTORY    OF     THE     WALDENSES     AND     AtBIGENSES,    FROM    THE    TIMES 
OF    PETER     WALDO,    A.    D.    1160,   TO     THJK     UAYS     OF     WICKLIFF.       A.    D. 

1360. 

SECT.  1.  Etymolog'y  of  the  terms  Waldenses  and  Albi- 
genses,  with  some  account  of  Peter  Waldo  of 
Lyons — Decree  of  Pope  Lucius  111.,  &c.  .  1 

SECT.  2.  View  of  the  doctrinal  sentiments  of  the  Wal- 
denses, according-  to  the  testimony  of  their 
adversaries, 19 

SECT.  3.     Their  doctrinal  sentiments,  collected  from  tlieir 

own  writings, 41 

SECT.  4.  Additional  testimonies  from  the  writings  of  both 
friends  and  foes — Miscellaneous  reflections  on 
their  history, 64 

SECT.  5.  A  view  of  the  rise  and  establishment  of  the  In- 
quisition, with  reflections  on  its  spirit  and 
operation — Edicts  of  Frederic  II.        .        .        .  84 

SECT.  6.     History  of  the  persecutions  of  the  Albigenses  in 

France,  during  the  thirteenth  century,        .        .        101 

SECT.  7.  The  state  of  the  Waldenses,  from  the  period  of 
the  extirpation  of  the  Albigenses,  to  the  mid- 
dle of  the  fourteenth  century.  A.  D.  1220 — 
1350.  134 

SECT.  8.  State  of  religion  in  England  and  Bohemia,  in 
the  thirteenth  and  fourteenth  centuries — 
Slietches  of  Wickliff" — the  Lollards — Huss — 
Jerome  of  Prague — Bohemian  Brethren,  &e., 
&c.,  .        .        • 156 


IV 


Contents  of  Volume  IL 


CHAPTER  VI. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  WALDENSES  CONTINUED,  FROM  THE  MIDDLE  OF  THE 
FOURTEENTH  TO  THE  END  OF  THE  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY.  A.  D. 
1350—1700. 


SECT.  1.  The  history  of  the  Waldenses  from  the  days  of 
Wickhff  to  the  rise  of  Luther.  A.  D.  1350— 
1500.  198 

SECT.  2.  History  of  the  Waldenses  from  the  end  of  the 
fifteenth  to  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury.    A.  D.  1300—1550.  ....        219 


SECT.  3.  View  of  the  conduct  of  the  court  of  Rome,  and 
of  the  Inquisition  iu  the  sixteenth  century — 
State  of  affairs  iu  Spain  and  the  Netherlands. 
A.  D.  1550—1570 


243 


SECT.  4.  History  of  the  Waldenses  continued,  from  the 
middle  of  the  sixteenth  to  the  commencement 
of  the  seventeenth  century.  A.  D.  1551 — 
1600.  


268 


SECT.  5.  History  of  the  Waldenses  continued,  from  the 
year  1600  to  1665 — their  banishment  from 
the  marquisate  of  Saluces — cruel  order  of 
Gastaldo — dreadful  massacre  in  Piedmont, 
A.  D.  1665 — defection  and  recovery  of  two  of 
their  pastors,  &.c. 


297 


SECT.  6.  History  of  the  Waldenses  continued — generous 
interference  of  the  English  government — Mil- 
ton's Sonnet,  and  State  Letters  to  the  Swiss 
Cantons — the  King  of  France — Duke  of  Sa- 
voy— King  of  Sweden — King  of  Denmark — 
United  Provinces — Swiss  ( 'antons — Prince  of 
Transylvania — Senators  of  Geneva — Laud- 
grave  of  Hesse  to  the  duke  of  Savoy — Mis- 
sion of  Sir  S.  Morland,        .... 

SECT.  7.  Waldensian  history  continued — sanguinarv  pro- 
ceedings agamst  them  in  Poland — appeal  to 
the  English  natiou — narrative  of  the  cruelties 
inflicted  by  the  Catholics, 


319 


355 


Contents  of  Volume  II.  v 

SECT.  8.  History  concluded — Edict  of  Victor  Amadeus — 
interference  of  the  Swiss  Cantons — distracted 
state  of  Piedmont— despotic  influence  of 
Louis  XIV. — country  invaf^ed  by  tlie  French 
army — massacre — imprisonment — final  extir- 
pation of  the  Waldenses — reflections  on  their 
history  and  sufTerings, 377 

Appendix — proofs  and  tllustrations,        ....        421 

Index  to  the  two  volumes. 


CBROirOLOaZCAL    TABLE 

OF 

SOVEREIGN  PRINCES, 

TO    ILLUSTRATE    THE    SECOND    VOLUME    OF    THIS    WORK. 


Popes  of  Rome. 

Centurt  XIIL 

A.  D. 
Honorius  III.  1216 
Gregory  IX.  .  1227 
Celestine  IV.  1241 
Innocent  IV.  .  1243 
Alexander  IV.  1234 
Urban  IV.  .  1261 
Clement  IV.  .  1265 
Gregory  X.  .  1271 
Innocent  V.  .  1276 
Adrian  V.  .  .  1276 
Nicholas  III.  .  1277 
Martin  IV.  .  1281 
Honorius  IV.  .  1285 
Nicholas  IV.  .  1288 
S.  Celestine  V.  1294 
Boniface  VIII.      1294 

Century  XIV. 


Benedict  XL 
Clement  V. 
John  XXII. 
Benedict  XII. 
Clement  VI. 
Innocent  VI. 
Urban  V.  . . 
Gregory  XI. 
Urban  VI.   . 
Clement  VII. 
Boniface  IX. 


1303 
1305 
1316 
1334 
1342 
1352 
1362 
1370 
1378 
1378 
1389 


Century  XV- 


Innocent  VII 
Gregory  XII. 
Alexander  V. 
John  XXIII. 
Martin  V.    . 
Eugene  IV. 
Nicholas  V. 
Calixtus  III. 
Pius  II.  .     . 
Paul  II.        . 
Sixtus  IV.   . 
Innocent  VIII 
Alexander  VI 


1404 
1406 
1409 
1410 
1417 
1431 
1447 
1455 
1458 
1464 
1471 
1484 
1492 


.1      .     .     . 
regnum       ) 
ich    lasted  > 
I  years,viz.  ) 


1271 

1272 


German  Emperors. 
Century  XIII. 

A.  D. 
Otho  IV.  .  .  1208 
Frederic  II.  .  1212 
Conrad  IV.  .  1250 
VV^illiam,  earl  of 

Holland    .     .     1254 
Richard,ofCorn- 

wall     .     .     .     1257 
Interregnum 
whic 
two 
RodolphI.,count 

of  Hapsburg      1273 
Adolphus of  Nas- 
sau      ...     1292 
Albert      I.  .     .     1298 

Century  XIV. 
Henry    VII.,    of 

Luxemburg       1308 
Lewis  V.  of  Ba- 
varia   .     .     .     1314 
Charles    IV.    of 

Luxemburg       1347 
VViuceslau8,king 

of  Bohemia  .     1378 
Robert,    Elector 
Palatine  .     .     1400 
Century  XV. 
Sigismund,  king 

of  Bohemia  .     1411 
Maximilian  I.  .     1493 

Century  XVI. 
Charles  V.        .     1519 
Ferdinand  I.     .     1558 
Maximilian  II.      1564 
Rodolph       .     .     1576 

Century  XVII. 
Matthias  I.        .     1612 
Ferdinand  n.  .     1619 
Ferdinand  III.       1637 
Leopold        .     .     1657 


Kings  of  France, 
Century  XIV. 

A.  D. 
Lewis  X.  called 

Hntin       .     .     1314 
Philip  V.  called 

the  Lon^      .     1316 
Charles  IV.  call- 
ed the  Fair  .     1321 
Philip  VI.  of  Va- 

lois       .     .     .     1328 
John,  surnamed 

the  Good       .     1350 
Charles  V.  or  the 

Wise   .     .     .     1364 
Charles  VI.  call- 
ed   the    Bien- 
aim6     .     .     .     1380 
Charles  Vll.call- 
ed   the  Victo- 
rious   ...     1422 
Century  XV. 
Lewis  XI.    .     .     1461 
Charles  VIII.        1483 
Lewis  XII.       .     1497 

Century  XVI. 
Francis  I.  .  .  1514 
Henry  II.  .  .  1547 
Francis  II.  .  1559 
Charles  IX.  .  1560 
Henry  TIL  .  1574 
Henry  IV.  .     .     1589 

Century  XVII. 
Lewis  XIII.      .     1610 
Lewis  XIV.     .     1643 
Earls  of  Savoy  and 
Maurienne. 
Century  XIV. 
Edwaj-d  .     .     .     1323 
Ajmon    .     .     .     1329 
Amadeus  VI.    .     1343 
Amadeus  VII.       1383 


\ 


Chronological  Table  of  Sovereign  Princes.         vii 


'     Popes  of  Rome. 

Century  XVI. 

A.  D. 
Pius  III.  .  .  1303 
Julius  II.  .  .  1503 
Leo  X.  .  .  .  1513 
Adrian  VI.  .  152'? 
Clement  VII.  .  1523 
Paul  III.  .  .  ir.34 
Julius  III.  .  .  1550 
Marcellus  II.  .  1555 
Paul  IV.  .  .  1565 
Pius  IV.  .  .  1559 
PiusV.  .  .  .  1563 
Gregory  XIII.  1572 
Sixtus  V.  .  .  1685 
Urban  VII.  .  1590 
Gregory  XIV.  1590 
Innocent  IX.  .  1591 
Clement  VIII.       1592 

Ceistury  XVII. 
Leo  XI.  .  .  1605 
Paul  V.  .  .  1605 
Gregory  XV.  .  1621 
Urban  VIII.  .  1623 
Innocent  X.  .  1644 
Alexander  VII.  1655 
Clement  IX.  .  16G7 
Clement  X.  .  1670 
Innocent  XI.  .  1676 
Alexander  VIII.  1689 
Innocent  XII.        1691 

Century  XVIII. 
Clement  XI.    .     1700 


Emperors  of  the  House 
of  Ji  ustria. 

Century  XV. 

A.  D. 
Alben  II.  .  .  1438 
Frederic  III.  .  1440 
Maximilian  I.        1493 

Centurv  XVI. 
Charles  V.        .     1519 
Emperors  of  the  East. 

[Constantinople.) 

Century  XIII. 
Alexius  the 

younger  .  .  1203 
Alexius  IV.  .  1203 
Murtzuphius.   .     1204 


Dukes  of  Savoy. 
Century  XIV. 

A.  D. 

Amadeus    VIII. 
resigned  .     .     1391 
Century  XV. 

Lewis      .     .     .     1434 

Amadeus  IX.   .     1465 

Philibeit  1.        .     1472 

Charhs  I.    .     .     1482 

Charles   John 

Amadeus       .     1490 

ThiUi.  Lnrkland    1496 

Philibert  II       .     1496 
Century  XVI. 

Charles  III.      .     1504 

Emmanuel  Phili- 
bert    .     .     .     1559 

Charles    Emma- 
nuel I.      .     .     1580 
Century  XVII. 

Victor  Am.adeus 
1 1630 

Francis  Hyacin- 
thus     .     .     .     1637 

Chaxles   Emma- 
nuel II.    .     .     1638 

Victor  Amadeus 
II 1675 


r^.IiTGETGII 


OF      THE 

CHRISTIAN     CHURCH. 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  WALDENSES  AND  ALBIGENSES,  FROM 
THE  TIME  OF  PETER  WALDO,  A.  D.  1160,  TO  THE  DAYS 
OF  WICKLIFF,   1360. 


SECTZOir  I. 

Etymology  of  the  names  Waldenses  and  Albigenses,  with 
some  account  of  Peter  Waldo  of  Lyons,  and  the  san- 
guinary edict  of  Pope  Lucius  IIL  against  the  discipjes 
of  Waldo. 

Having  sketched  the  more  prominent  features  of  the 
Christian  Church,  for  the  first  ten  centuries,  and  arriving 
at  that  period  in  which  we  are  to  give  the  reader  some  ac- 
count of  the  Waldenses,  it  will  be  proper  to  introduce  the 
subject  by  an  attempt  to  ascertain  the  origin  of  their  dis- 
tinguishing appellation.  The  learned  Mosheim  contends 
with  considerable  pertinacity  that  they  derive  their  name 
from  Peter  Waldo,  an  opulent  merchant  of  Lyons,  whose 
history  will  presently  come  under  our  notice ;  but  in  this 
he  is  contradicted  by  his  learned  translator,  and  I  believe, 
I  may  truly  add,  by  most  writers  of  authority  since  his 
time. 

The  most  satisfactory  definition  that  I  have  met  with  of 
the  term  Waldenses,  is  that  given  by  Mr.  Robinson,  in  his 

Vol.  II.  B 


2  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [cH.  v. 

Ecclesiastical  Researches  ;  and,  in  the  confidence  that  it  is 
the  true  one,  and  that  I  may  not  unnecessarily  trespass  on 
the  reader's  time  and  patience,  I  submit  it  to  his  considera- 
tion. 

From  the  Latin  word  vallis,  came  the  English  word 
valley,  the  French  and  Spanish  valle,  the  Italian  valdesi, 
the  low  Dutch  valleye,  the  Proven(;al  vnux,  vaudois,  the 
ecclesiastical  Valdenses,  Ualdenses,  and  Waldenses.  The 
words  simply  signify  valleys,  inhabitants  of  valleys,  and  no 
more.  It  happened  that  the  inhabitants  of  the  valleys  of 
the  Pyrenees  did  not  profess  the  catholic  faith ;  it  fell  out 
also  that  the  inhabitants  of  the  valleys  about  the  Alps  did 
not  embrace  it ;  it  happened,  moreover,  in  the  ninth  cen- 
tury', that  one  Valdo,  a  friend  and  counsellor  of  Beren- 
garius,  and  a  man  of  eminence,  who  had  many  followers, 
did  not  approve  of  the  papal  discipline  and  doctrine ;  and  it 
came  to  pass  about  a  hundred  and  thirty  years  after,  that 
a  rich  merchant  of  Lyons,  who  was  called  Valdus,  or  Wal- 
do, because  he  received  his  religious  notions  from  the  in- 
habitants of  the  valleys,  openly  disavowed  the  Roman 
Catholic  religion,  supported  many  to  teach  the  doctrines 
believed  in  the  valleys,  and  became  the  instrument  of  the 
conversion  of  great  numbers ;  all  these  people  were 
CALLED  Waldenses.*  This  view  of  the  matter,  which  to 
myself  appears  indisputably  the  true  one,  is  also  supported 
by  the  authority  of  their  own  historians,  Perriu,  Leger,  Sir 
S.  Morland,  and  Dr.  Allix. 

To  the  preceding  account  of  the  derivation  of  the  term 
Waldenses,  I  shall  now  add  the  explanation  given  by  these 
writers,  of  various  other  appellations  that  were  bestowed 
on  this  class  of  Christians,  and  particularly  that  of  Albi- 
genses. 

The  names  imposed  on  them  in  France  by  their  adver- 
saries, they  say,  have  been  intended  to  vilify  and  ridicule 
them,  or  to  represent  them  as  new  and  different  sects.     Be- 

*  Ecdes.  Researches,  pages  302,  303. 


SECT.  I.]  Origin  of  the  Albigenses.  3 

ing  stripped  of  all  their  property,  and  reduced  by  perse- 
cution to  extreme  poverty,  they  have  been  called  "  the 
poor  of  Lyons."  From  their  mean  and  famished  appear- 
ance in  their  exiled  and  destitute  state,  they  have  been 
called  in  provincial  jargon  "  Siccan,"  or  pickpockets.  Be- 
cause they  would  not  observe  saints'  days,  they  were  falsely 
supposed  to  neglect  the  Sabbath  also,  and  called  "  Inzab- 
batati  or  Insabbathists."*  As  they  denied  transubstantia- 
tion,  or  the  personal  and  divine  presence  of  Jesus  Christ 
in  the  host,  or  wafer  exhibited  in  the  mass,  they  were  called 
"  Arians."  Their  adversaries,  premising  that  all  power 
must  be  derived  from  God  through  his  vicegerent  the  Pope, 
or  from  an  opposite  and  evil  principle,  inferred  that  the 
Waldenses  were  "  jVIanichaeans,"  because  they  denied  the 
pope's  supremacy  over  the  emperors  and  kings  of  the 
earth. 

In  Languedoc,  the  catholics  pretended  that  the  origin  of 
these  heretics  was  recent,  and  that  they  derived  their  name 
of  Vaudois,  or  Waldenses,  from  Peter  Waldo,  one  of  their 
barbes  or  preachers,  whose  immediate  followers  were  called 
Waldenses, ;  but  this  was  rather  the  renovation  of  the  name 
from  a  particular  cause,  than  its  original;  accordingly  it 
extended  over  that  district  only,  in  France,  where  Peter 
Waldo  preached  ;  for  in  other  districts  the  people  who  were 
branches  of  the  same  original  sect,  as  in  Dauphine,  were, 
from  a  noted  preacher,  called  Josephists — in  Languedoc, 
they  were  called  Henricians — and  in  other  provinces,  from 
Peter  de  Bruys,  they  were  called  Petrobrusians.  Sometimes 
they  received  their  name  from  their  manners,  as  "  Catha- 
rists,"  (Puritans)  and  from  the  foreign  country  whence  it 

*  Dr.  Moshiern  traces  the  derivation  of  this  word  to  a  kind  of  slip- 
per which  they  wore,  as  a  disting'uishing  badg'e  of  the  sect ;  and  Gib- 
bon has  adopted  his  opinion.  But  I  agree  with  Mr.  Robinson  in  think-  , 
ing  it  very  unlikely  that  people  who  could  not  descend  from  their 
mountains  into  neighbouring'  states,  without  hazarding  their  lives, 
through  the  furious  zeal  of  inquisitors,  should  tempt  danger  by  affix- 
ing a  visible  mark  on  their  shoes.  The  above  opinion,  therefore,  ap- 
pears much  more  probable. 


4  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [cH.  v- 

was  pretended  they  had  been  expelled,  they  were  called 
"  Bulgarians"  or  Bougres.  In  Italy  they  were  commonly 
called  Fraticelli,  that  is,  "  men  of  the  brotherhood,"  because 
they  cultivated  brotherly  love  among  themselves,  acknow- 
ledging one  another  as  brethren  in  Christ.  Sometimes 
they  were  denominated  "  Paulicians,"  and,  by  corruption 
of  the  word,  "  Publicans,"  considering  them  as  sprung 
from  that  ancient  sect  which,  in  the  seventh  century,  spread 
over  Armenia  and  Thrace,*  and  which,  when  persecuted 
by  the  Greek  emperors,  might  emigrate  into  Europe,  and 
mingle  with  the  Waldenses  in  Piedmont.  Sometimes  they 
were  named  from  the  country  or  city  in  which  they  pre- 
vailed, as  Lombardists,  Toulousians,  and  Albigenses.  All 
these  branches,  however,  sprang  from  one  common  stock, 
and  were  animated  by  the  same  religious  and  moral  prin- 
ciples. 

Albigenses  became  latterly  their  common  name  in 
France,  from  the  great  number  of  them  that  inhabited  the 
city  of  Alby,  and  the  district  of  Albigeois,  between  the 
Garonne  and  the  Rhone ;  but  that  name  was  not  general 
and  confirmed  till  after  the  council  of  Alby  in  the  year 
1254,  which  condemned  them  as  heretics.  Their  number 
and  prevalence  in  that  country  are  ascribed  to  the  patron- 
age and  protection  which  they  received  from  Roger  count 
of  Alby,  after  they  had  been  persecuted  in  other  countries. 
Some  writers  have  laboured  to  prove  that  the  Waldenses 
and  Albigenses  were  quite  different  classes  of  Christians, 
and  held  diiferent  principles  and  opinions ;  but  there  seems 
no  solid  ground  for  maintaining  such  a  distinction.  When 
the  popes  issued  their  fulminations  against  the  Albigenses, 
they  expressly  condemn  them  as  Waldenses ;  their  legates 
made  war  against  them  as  professing  the  faith  of  the  Wal- 
denses ;  the  monks  of  the  Inquisition  formed  their  processes 
of  indictment  against  them  as  being  Waldenses ;  the  peo- 
ple persecuted  them  as  being  such,  and  they  uniformly 

*  See  Vol.  I.  ch.  iii.  sect.  4. 


SECT.  I.]  Origin  of  the  Alhigenses.  5 

adopted  the  title  when  it  was  given  them,  and  even  thought 
themselves  honoured  by  it.  To  this  may  be  added,  that 
historians  do  not  trace  their  origin  to  any  local  causes  in 
Albigeois,  and  about  Toulouse,  but  represent  them  as  emi- 
grants liom  other  regions.  Neither  do  they  represent  their 
origin  as  recent  before  the  council  of  Alby,  but  as  stran- 
gers from  adjacent  countries  about  a  hundred  years 
before. 

Farther,  the  provincial  councils  of  Toulouse,  in  1119, 
and  of  Lombez,  in  II 7G,  and  the  general  councils  of  Late- 
ran  in  1139  and  1179  do  not  treat  of  them,  nor  condemn 
them,  as  Albigenses  but  as  heretics,  and  when  they  particu- 
larize them,  they  denominate  them  "  bons  hommes" — 
(i.  e.  good  men) — "  cathari" — "  paterini" — "  publicani,"  &.c. 
which  shows  that  they  existed  before  they  were  generally 
known  as  Albigenses.  It  is  also  proved,  from  their  books, 
that  they  existed  as  Waldenses,  before  the  times  of  Peter 
Waldo,  who  preached  about  the  year  1160.  Perrin,  who 
wrote  their  history,  had  in  his  possession  a  New  Testament 
in  the  Vallese  language,  written  on  parchment,  in  a  very 
ancient  letter,  and  a  book  entitled,  in  their  language, 
"Qual  cosa  sia  I'Antichrist .'"' — that  is,  "What  is  Anti- 
christ.'"' under  date  of  the  year  1120,  which  carries  us 
back  at  least  twenty  years  before  Waldo.  Another  book 
entitled,  "The  noble  lesson,"  is  dated  A.  D.  1100. 

Their  enemies  confirm  their  great  antiquity.  Reinerius 
Saccho,  an  inquisitor,  and  one  of  their  most  cruel  persecu- 
tors, who  lived  only  eighty  years  after  Waldo,  admits  that 
the  Waldenses  flourished  five  hundred  years  before  that 
preacher.  Gretzer,  the  Jesuit,  who  also  wrote  against  the 
Waldenses,  and  had  examined  the  subject  fully,  not  only 
admits  their  great  antiquity,  but  declares  his  firm  belief 
"  that  the  Toulousians  and  Albigenses  condemned  in  the 
years  1177  and  1178,  were  no  other  than  Waldenses.  In 
fact,  their  doctrines,  discipline,  government,  manners,  and 
even  the  errors  with  which  they  have  been  charged  (by  the 
Catholics)  show  that  the  Albigenses  and  Waldenses  were 

Vol.  II.  C 


()  History  of  (he  Christian  Church.  [ch.  v. 

two  branches  of  the  same  sect,  or  that  the  former  were 
sprung  from  the  latter.* 

From  the  death  of  Claude,  bishop  of  Turin,  who  may 
not  improperly  be  termed  the  WicklifT  of  that  city,  to  the 
times  of  Peter  Waldo  of  Lyons,  a  considerable  period  in- 
tervened, during  which,  the  history  of  the  disciples  of  that 
great  man  is  involved  in  much  obscurity.  They  seem  to 
have  had  no  writers  among  themselves  capable  of  detailing 
their  proceedings  during  this  period ;  or,  if  any  records  of 
their  ecclesiastical  history  were  committed  to  writing,  the 
zeal  of  their  adversaries  hath  prevented  their  transmission 
to  our  times.  In  the  w  ritings  of  their  enemies,  indeed,  we 
have  abundant  proof  of  their  existence,  as  a  class  of  Chris- 
tians separated  in  faith  and  practice  from  the  cadiolic 
church,  and  of  the  multiplication  of  their  numbers;  but  of 
their  proceedings  in  the  formation  of  churches,  and  of  their 
order,  worship,  and  discipline,  we  are  very  imperfectly  in- 
formed. 

Of  the  Catharists,  in  Germany,  and  of  the  Paterines,  in 
the  dutchy  of  Milan,  he,  during  this  period,  both  of  which 
held  the  same  principles  as  the  Waldenses,  we  have  already 
taken  some  notice  in  the  preceding  chapter.  But  it  was  not 
till  the  twelfth  century  that  the  V^audois  appear  in  ecclesi- 
astical history  as  a  people  obnoxious  to  the  church  of  Rome. 
And  even  then  it  seems,  in  great  measure,  to  have  been  oc- 
casioned by  the  indefatigable  labours,  the  ardent  zeal,  and 
the  amazing  success  which  crowned  the  ministry  of  Peter 
Waldo  of  Lyons,  whose  followers  first  obtained  the  name 
of  Leonists,f  and  who,  when  persecuted  in  France,  fled 
into  Piedmont,  incorporating  themselves  with  the  Vaudois. 

*  Dr.  Rankin's  History  of  France,  vol.  iii.  p.  198 — 202.  To  this 
cotemporary  and  able  writer,  I  have  much  pleasure  in  tendering-  my 
acknowledgments  for  the  eminent  services  which,  in  this  instance,  he 
has  rendered  to  the  cause  of  truth  and  virtue.  His  patient  research, 
and  his  cool,  correct,  and  discriminating-  judg-ment,  have  greatly- 
abridged  my  labour  on  this  branch  of  the  subject. 

t  From  the  Latin  word  "Leo,"  a  lion — whence  the  name  of  the 
city. 


SECT.  1.]  Puritans — Paferines — Leonists,  one  class.  7 

The  following  is  the  account  which  Mr.  Robinson  gives  of 
this  intricate  article  of  ecclesiastical  history,  and  as  it  ap- 
pears to  myself  more  probable  than  any  other  that  I  have 
seen,  I  incline  to  admit  it  as  the  true  one. 

"  In  the  twelfth  century,  towards  the  close,  a  great  refor- 
mation was  begun  at  Lyons,  under  the  auspices  of  a  mer- 
chant there,  who  procured  a  translation  of  the  four  Gospels 
from  Latin  into  French,  and  who  both  preached  himself, 
and  engaged  others  to  do  so,  in  various  parts  of  the  coun- 
try. Reinerius  Saccho  thought  all  the  believers  ( Credenti) 
sprung  from  this  stock  ;  and  he  therefore  calls  them  all 
Leonists.  Whether  the  merchant  received  his  name  (Val- 
dus)  from  the  Vaudois,  or  whether  they  received  theirs 
from  him  is  uncertain ;  the  former  is  the  more  probable 
opinion  of  the  two,  and  the  fact  seems  to  be  that,  till  then 
the  Vaudois  were  (comparatively  speaking)  few  and  ob- 
scure, and  the  Leonists  at  once  numerous  and  popular ; 
that  the  Vaudois  and  Leonists  soon  incorporated  themselves 
together ;  that  the  Vaudois  communicated  their  name, 
which  passed  for  that  of  a  low,  rustical,  and  obscure  peo- 
ple, to  the  Leonists  ;  and  that  the  Leonists  emboldened  "the 
Vaudois  to  separate  openly  from  the  church.  This  view  of 
things  in  part  reconciles  the  opinion  of  the  catholic  bishop, 
Bossuet,  with  that  of  Dr. Allix  and  other  Protestants.  Bos- 
suet  says,  the  separation  of  the  Vaudois  was  for  a  long  time 
a  mere  schism  in  the  church,  and  that  Waldo  was  their  pa- 
rent. Protestants  deny  this,  and  say  that  the  Vaudois 
were  the  parents  of  the  Leonists.  It  should  seem  the  Vau- 
dois were  the  first,  and  that  they  continued  in  the  church 
a  sort  of  party  till  Waldo  emboldened  them  to  separate, 
and  so  became  not  the  founder  of  the  party,  but  the  parent 
of  their  separation." 

But  the  history  of  Peter  Waldo,  his  exemf)lary  life,  his 
zeal  in  the  cause  of  truth  and  virtue,  the  noble  sacrifices 
which  he  made  to  religious  principle,  and  the  extraordinary 
success  which  crowned  his  labours  in  the  promulgation  of 
the  gospel  of  peace,  entitle  him  to  somewhat  more  than  an 


8  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [CH.  v, 

incidental  mention  in  the  history  of  the  times  in  which  he 
lived.  He  was  an  opulent  merchant  in  the  city  of  Lyons — 
a  city  which,  in  the  second  century  of  the  Christian  a?ra,  as 
we  have  formerly  seen,*  was  blessed  with  the  clear  light  of 
divine  truth — where  Christ  had  planted  a  numerous  church 
to  serve  as  a  pillar  on  which  his  truth  was  inscribed,  or  a 
candlestick  on  which  he  had  placed  the  lamp  of  life.  But 
the  lamp  had  long  been  extinguished,  and  the  pillar  remo- 
ved. Lyons,  in  the  times  of  Peter  Waldo,  was  sunk  into  a 
state  of  the  grossest  darkness  and  superstition.  About  the 
year  1160  the  doctrine  of  transubstantiatlon,  which  some- 
time afterwards  Pope  Innocent  III.  confirmed  in  a  very  so- 
lemn manner,  was  required  by  the  court  of  Rome  to  be 
acknowledged  by  all  men.  A  most  pernicious  practice  of 
idolatry  w  as  connected  with  the  reception  of  this  doctrine. 
Men  fell  down  before  the  consecrated  w  afer  and  w  orshipped 
it  as  God;  an  abomination,  the  absurdity  and  impiety  o-f 
which  forcibly  struck  the  mind  of  Waldo,  who  opposed  it 
in  a  most  courageous  manner. f 

But  although  the  conscience  or  common  sense  of  Waldo 
revolted  against  this  novel  piece  of  superstition,  he  seems 
not  to  have  entertained,  at  that  time,  the  most  distant  idea 
of  withdrawing  himself  from  the  communion  of  the  Romish 
church,  nor  indeed  to  have  had  much  sense  of  religion 
upon  his  mind.  God,  however,  who  hath  the  hearts  of  all 
men  in  his  hands,  and  vho  turns  them  as  the  rivers  of 
water,  had  destined  him  for  great  usefulness  in  his  king- 
dom. To  him,  also,  whatever  means  seem  necessary  for 
eflecting  his  purposes  in  the  world,  are  equally  at  command. 
An  extraordinary  occurrence  in  providence  was  the  means 
of  awakening  the  mind  of  Peter  Waldo,  to  the  "one  thing 
needful."  One  evenhig  after  supper,  as  he  sat  conversing 
with  a  party  of  his  friends,  and  refreshing  himself  among 
them,  one  of  the  company  fell  down  dead  on  the  floor,  to 
the  consternation  of  all  that  were  present.     Such  a  lesson  on 

*  See  vol,  i.  p.  207.  f  Pen-in  Histoire  desVaudois,ch.  i 


SECT.  I.]  Conversion  of  Peter  JVcddo.  9 

the  uncertainty  of  human  life,  and  the  very  precarious 
tenure  by  which  mortals  hold  it,  most  forcibly  arrested  his 
attention.  The  Latin  Vulgate  Bible  was  the  only  edition 
of  the  Scriptures  at  that  time  in  Europe;  but  that 'anguage 
was  inaccessible  to  all,  except  one  in  a  hundred  of  its 
inhabitants.  Happily  for  Waldo,  his  situation  in  life  had 
enabled  iiini  to  surmount  that  obstacle.  "Being  somewhat 
learned"  says  Reinerius,  when  speaking  of  him,  "  he  taught 
the  people  the  text  of  the  New  Testament  in  tiieir  mother 
tongue."  The  sudden  death  of  his  friend  led  him  to  think 
of  his  own  approaching  dissolution,  and  under  the  terrors 
of  an  awakened  conscience,  he  had  recourse  to  the  Holy 
Scriptures  for  instruction  and  comfort.  There,  in  the 
knowledge  of  the  true  character  of  God,  as  the  just  God 
and  the  Saviour,  reconciled  towards  sinners  through  the 
blood  of  atonement,  he  found  the  pearl  of  great  price — 
a  way  of  escape  from  the  wrath  which  is  to  come.  The 
])elief  of  the  testimony  which  God  hath  given  of  his  Son, 
diffused  peace  and  joy  into  his  own  mind;  raised  his  views 
and  conceptions  above  "the  smoke  and  din  of  this  dim 
spot  which  men  call  earth,"  and  led  him  to  look  for  glory, 
honour,  and  immortality,  even  eternal  life  in  the  world  to 
come.  But  Christian  love  is  an  operative  principle.  It 
expands  the  mind  in  which  it  dwells,  and  fills  it  with  gene- 
rous sentiments — with  supreme  love  to  God,  and  the  most 
disinterested  benevolence  to  man.  Waldo  was  desirous  of 
communicating  to  others  a  participation  of  that  happiness 
which  he  himself  enjoyed.  He  abandoned  his  mercantile 
pursuits,  distributed  his  wealth  to  the  poor  as  occasion 
required;  and,  while  the  latter  flocked  to  him  to  partake 
of  his  alms,  he  laboured  to  engage  their  attention  to  the 
things  which  belonged  to  their  everlasting  peace. 

One  of  the  first  objects  of  his  pursuit  was  to  put  into 
their  hands  the  word  of  life ;  and  he  either  himself  trans- 
lated, or  procured  some  one  else  to  translate,  the  four 
Gospels  into  French;  and  the  next  was  to  make  them 
acquainted  with  their  sacred  contents.     Matthias  Illyrius, 


10  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [ch.  v. 

a  writer  who  prosecuted  his  studies  under  Luther  and 
Melancthon,  and  was  one  of  the  Magdeburgh  centuriators, 
speaking-  of  him  says,  "  His  kindness  to  the  poor  being 
diffused,  his  love  of  teaching,  and  their  love  of  learning 
growing  stronger  and  stronger,  greater  crowds  came  to  him, 
to  whom  he  explained  the  scriptures.  He  was  himself  a 
man  of  learning;  so  I  understand  from  some  old  parch- 
ments— nor  was  he  obliged  to  employ  others  to  translate 
for  him  as  his  enemies  affirm."  But  whether  Waldo  him- 
self translated  these  Scriptures,  or  employed  others  to  do  it, 
or,  which  is  most  probable,  executed  it  himself  with  the 
assistance  of  others,  certain  it  is,  that  the  inhabitants  of 
Europe  were  indebted  to  him  for  the  first  translation  of 
the  Bible  into  a  modern  tongue,  since  the  time  that  the 
Latin  had  ceased  to  be  a  living  language — a  gift  of  ines- 
timable value ! 

As  Waldo  became  more  acquainted  with  the  Scriptures, 
he  began  to  discover  that  a  multiplicity  of  doctrines,  rites, 
and  ceremonies  which  had  been  introduced  into  the  national 
religion,  had  not  only  no  foundation  in  the  word  of  God, 
but  were  most  pointedly  condemned  in  that  book.  In- 
flamed with  zeal  for  the  glory  of  God,  on  the  one  hand, 
and  with  concern  for  the  souls  of  his  fellow-sinners  on  the 
other,  he  raised  his  voice  loudly  against  them,  condemning 
the  arrogance  of  the  Pope,  and  the  reigning  vices  of  the 
clergy.  Nor  did  he  satisfy  himself  with  mere  declamation 
against  what  was  wrong  in  others.  He  taught  the  truth  in 
its  simplicity,  and  enforced  its  practical  influence  on  the 
heart  and  life ;  and  by  his  own  example,  as  well  as  by  an 
appeal  to  the  lives  of  those  who  first  believed  in  Christ, 
lie  laboured  to  demonstrate  the  great  difference  there  was 
between  the  Christianity  of  the  Bible  and  that  of  the  Church 
,  of  Rome. 

The  consequences  of  all  this  may  be  easily  supposed  by 
a  reflecting  mind.  The  Archbishop  of  Lyons  heard  of 
these  proceedings,  and  became  indignant.  Their  tendency 
was  obvious  J  the  honour  of  the  church  was  involved  in 


SECT.  I.]         Preaching  of  Waldo  at  Lyons.  1 1 

them,  and,  in  perfect  consistency  with  the  usual  mode  of 
silencing  objectors  among  the  catholic  party,  he  forbade 
the  new  reformer  to  teach  any  more  on  pain  of  excommu- 
nication, and  of  being  proceeded  against  as  a  heretic. 
Waldo  replied,  that  though  a  layman,  he  could  not  be 
silent  in  a  matter  which  concerned  the  salvation  of  his 
feilow-creatures.  Attempts  were  next  made  to  apprehend 
him ;  but  the  number  and  afiection  of  his  friends,  the  re- 
spectability and  influence  of  his  connexions,  many  of  whom 
were  men  of  rank;  the  universal  regard  that  was  paid  to 
his  character  for  probity  and  religion;  and  the  conviction 
that  his  presence  was  iiighly  necessary  among  the  people 
whom  he  had  by  this  time  gathered  into  a  church,  and  of 
which  he  had  taken  the  oversight,  all  operated  so  strongly 
in  his  favour,  that  he  lived  concealed  at  Lyons  during  the 
space  of  three  whole  years.* 

Information  of  these  things  was  then  conveyed  to  Pope 
Alexander  III.,  who  no  sooner  heard  of  such  heretical  pro- 
ceedings than  he  anathematized  the  reformer  and  his  ad- 
herents, commanding  the  archbishop  to  proceed  against 
them  with  the  utmost  rigour.  Waldo  was  now  compelled 
to  quit  Lyons;  his  flock  in  a  great  measure  followed  their 
pastor;  and  hence  a  dispersion  took  place  not  unlike  that 
which  arose  in  the  church  of  Jerusalem  on  the  occasion  of 
the  death  of  Stephen.  The  effects  were  also  similar. 
Waldo  himself  retired  into  Dauphmy,  where  he  preached 
with  abundant  success ;  his  principles  took  deep  and  lasting 
root,  and  produced  a  numerous  harvest  of  disciples,  who 
were  denominated  Leonists,  Vaudois,  Albigenses,  or  W'al- 
denses;  for  the  very  same  class  of  Christians  is  designated 
by  these  various  appellations  at  different  times,  and  accord- 
ing to  the  different  countries  or  quarters  of  the  same  country 
in  which  they  appeared.f 

Persecuted    from   place    to   place,  Waldo  retired  into 
Picardy,  where  also  success  attended  his  labours.     Driven 

*  Perrin's  History,  ch.  i.  Ibid.  ch.  i. 


12    .  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [ch.  r. 

from  thence,  he  proceeded  into  Germany,  carrying  along 
with  him  the  glad  tidings  of  Salvation;  and,  according  to 
the  testimony  of  Thuanus,  a  very  authentic  French  histo- 
rian, he  at  length  settled  in  Bohemia,  where  he  finished 
his  course,  in  the  year  1179,  after  a  ministry  of  nearly 
twenty  years.  He  was  evidently  a  man  of  very  singular 
endowments;  and  one  of  those  extraordinary  persons 
whom  God  in  his  providence  occasionally  raises  up  and 
qualifies  for  eminent  usefulness  in  his  kingdom;  but  he  has 
met  with  no  historian  capable  of  doing  justice  to  his  talents 
and  character.  Numbers  of  his  people  fled  for  an  asylum 
into  the  valleys  of  Piedmont,  taking  with  them  the  new 
translation  of  the  Bible.  In  the  ensuing  section,  we  shall 
have  an  opportunity  of  examining  their  doctrinal  senti- 
ments ;  and  their  history  in  that  country,  as  well  as  in  the 
south  of  France,  and  wherever  else  we  can  trace  them, 
will  occupy,  in  one  way  or  other,  the  remaining  pages  of 
this  volume. 

The  persecution  of  Waldo  and  his  followers,  with  their 
flight  from  Lyons,  is  a  remarkable  epoch  in  the  annals  of 
the  Christian  Church.  Wherever  they  went,  they  sowed  the 
seeds  of  reformation.  The  countenance  and  blessing  of 
the  King  of  kings  accompanied  them.  The  word  of  God 
grew  and  multiplied,  not  only  in  the  places  where  Waldo 
himself  had  planted  it,  but  in  more  distant  regions.  In 
Alsace  and  along  the  Rhine,  the  doctrines  of  Waldo  spread 
extensively.  Persecutions  ensued — thirty-five  citizens  of 
Mentz  were  burned  in  one  fire  at  the  city  of  Bingen,  and 
eighteen  at  Mentz  itself.  The  bishops  of  both  Mentz  and 
Strasburgh  breathed  nothing  but  vengeance  and  slaughter 
against  them  ;  and  at  the  latter  city,  where  Waldo  himself 
is  said  to  have  narrowly  escaped  apprehension,  eighty  per- 
sons were  cominitted  to  the  flames.  In  the  treatment,  and 
in  the  behaviour  of  the  Waldenses,  were  renewed  the  scenes 
of  martyrdom  of  the  second  century.  Multitudes  died 
praising  God,  and  in  the  confident  hope  of  a  blessed  resur- 
rection.    But  the  blood  of  the  martyrs  again  became  the 


SECT.  I.]  Decree  of  Pope  Lucius  III.  against  heretics.     13 

seed  of  the  church  ;  and  in  Bulgaria,  Croatia,  Dahnalia, 
and  Hungary,  cliurches  were  planted,  which  flourished 
throughout  the  thirteenth  century,  and  which  are  said  to 
have  owed  their  rise  chiefly  to  the  labours  of  one  Bartholo- 
mew, a  native  of  Carcassone,  a  city  not  far  distant  from 
Toulouse,  in  the  south  of  France,  and  which  may  be  not 
improperly  termed  the  metropolis  of  the  Albigenses-  In 
Bohemia,  and  in  the  country  of  Passau,  it  has  been  com- 
puted that  there  was  not  less  than  eighty  thousand  of  this 
class  of  Christians  in  the  year  1315.  In  short  we  shall  find 
in  the  sequel,  that  they  spread  themselves  throughout 
almost  every  country  in  Europe ;  but  they  were  every 
where  treated  as  the  filth  of  the  world,  and  as  the  oflscour- 
ing  of  all  things.* 

It  can  excite  no  surprise  that  their  increasing  numbers 
should  rouse  the  court  of  Rome  to  adopt  the  most  vigorous 
measures  for  suppressing  them.  The  inquisition  had  not 
yet  been  established  ;  but  council  after  council  had  been 
convened  in  France ;  and  about  twenty  years  after  Waldo 
had  been  driven  from  Lyons,  the  following  persecuting 
edict  was  issued  from  Rome. 


THE     DECREE     OF     POPE     LUCIUS     HI.     AGAINST    HERETICS. 
A.    D.     1181. 

To  abolish  the  malignity  of  divers  heresies  which  are 
lately  sprung  up  in  most  parts  of  the  world,  it  is  but  fitting 
that  the  power  commited  to  the  church  should  be  awaken- 
ed, that  by  the  concurring  assistance  of  the  imperial 
strength,  both  the  insolence  and  malapertness  of  the  heretics 
in  their  false  designs  may  be  crushed,  and  the  truth  of 
Catholic  simplicity  shining  forth  in  the  holy  church,  hiaj' 
demonstrate  her  pure  and  free  from  the  execrableness.  of 
their  false  doctrines.     Wherefore  we,  being  supported,  b\ 


•     I  -t.  •  ...  ""•■'  Perrin's  History,  ch.  ii. 


14  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [ch.  V. 

ihe  presence  and  power  of  our  most  dear  son,  Frederic^ 
the  most  illustrious  Emperor  of  the  Romans,  always  in- 
creaser  of  the  empire,  with  the  common  advice  and  coimsel 
of  our  brethren,  and  other  patriarchs,  archbishops,  and 
many  princes,  who  from  several  parts  of  the  world  are  met 
together,  do  set  themselves  against  these  heretics,  who  hove 
got  different  names  from  the  several  false  doctrines  they  pro- 
fess, by  the  sanction  of  this  present  general  decree,  and  by 
our  apostolical  authority,  according  to  the  tenor  of  these 
presents,  we  condemn  all  manner  of  heresy,  by  what  name 
soever  it  may  be  denominated. 

More  particularly,  we  declare  all  Catharists,  Paterines^ 
and  those  who  call  themselves  "  the  poor  of  Lyons  ;"  the 
Passagines,  Joscphists,  Arnoldists,  to  lie  under  a  perpetual 
anathema.  And  because  some,  under  a  form  of  godhness, 
but  denying  the  power  tiicreof,  as  the  apostle  saith,  assume 
to  themselves  the  authority  of  preaching ;  whereas  the 
same  apostle  saith,  "  How  Gliall  they  preach  except  they  be 
sent'' — we  therefore  conclude  under  the  same  sentence  of  a 
perpetual  anathema,  all  those  who  either  being  forbid  or 
not  sent  do  notwithstanding  presume  to  preach  publicly  or 
privately,  without  any  authority  received  either  from  the 
Apostolic  See,  or  from  the  bishops  of  their  respective  dio- 
cesses :  As  also  all  those  who  are  not  afraid  to  hold  or 
teach  any  opinions  concerning  the  sacrament  of  the  body 
and  blood  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  baptism,  the  remission 
of  sins,  matrimony,  or  any  other  sacraments  of  the  church, 
differing  from  what  the  holy  church  of  Rome  doth  preach 
and  observe :  And  generally  all  those  whom  the  same 
church  of  Rome,  or  the  several  bishops  in  their  diocesses, 
with  the  advice  of  their  clergy,  or  the  clergy  themselves, 
in  case  of  vacancy  of  the  See,  with  die  advice  if  need  be 
of  neighbouring  bishops,  shall  judge  to  be  heretics.  And 
we  likewise  declare  all  entertainers  and  defenders  of  the 
said  heretics,  and  those  that  have  showed  any  favour  or 
given  countenance  to  them,  thereby  strengdiening  them  in 
their  heresy,  whether  they  be  called  comforted,  believers,  or 


SECT.  I.]  Decree  of  Pope  Lucius  III.  against  heretics.       16 

perfect,  or  with  \vhati;oever  superstitious  name  they  disguise 
themselves,  to  be  liable  to  the  name  sentence. 

And  though  it  sometimes  happens  that  the  severity  of 
ecclesiastical  discipline,  necessary  to  the  coercion  of  sin, 
is  condemned  by  those  who  do  not  understand  the  virtue 
of  it,  we  notwithstanding  by  these  presents  decree.  That 
whosoever  shall  be  notoriously  convicted  of  these  errors, 
if  a  clergyman,  or  one  that  endeavours  to  conceal  himself 
under  any  religious  order,  he  shall  be  immediately  deprived 
of  all  prerogative  of  the  church  orders,  and  so  being  di- 
vested of  all  office  and  benefice,  be  delivered  to  the  secular 
power  to  be  punished  according  to  demerit,  unless  imme- 
diately upon  his  being  detected  he  voluntarily  returns  to 
the  truth  of  the  Catholic  faith,  and  publicly  abjures  hit, 
errors,  at  the  discretion  of  the  bishop  of  the  diocess,  and 
makes  suitable  satisfaction.  And  as  for  a  layman  who 
shall  be  found  guilty  either  publicly  or  privately  of  any  of 
the  aforesaid  crimes,  unless  by  abjuring  his  heresy  and 
making  satisfaction  he  immediately  return  to  the  orthodox 
faith,  we  decree  him  to  be  left  to  the  sentence  of  the  secular 
judge,  to  receive  condign.^xnishment  according  to  the 
quality  of  the  offence. 

And  as  to  those  who  are  taken  notice  of  by  the  church 
as  suspected  of  heresy,  unless  at  the  command  of  the 
bishop  they  give  full  evidence  of  their  innocence,  accord- 
ing to  the  degree  of  suspicion  against  them  and  the  quality 
of  their  persons,  they  shall  all  be  liable  to  the  same  sen- 
tence. But  those  who  after  having  abjured  their  errors, 
or  cleared  themselves  upon  examination  to  their  bishop,  if 
they  be  found  to  have  relapsed  into  their  abjured  heresy^ 
We  decree  that  without  any  further  hearing  they  be  forth- 
with delivered  up  to  the  secular  power,  and  their  goods 
confiscated  to  the  use  of  the  church. 

And  we  further  decree,  That  this  excommunication,  in 
which  our  will  is  that  all  heretics  be  included,  shall  be  re- 
peated and  renewed  by  all  patriarchs,  archbishops,  and 
bishops,  in  all  the  chief  festivals  and  on  any  public  solem- 


16  Hisiorrj  of  the  Christian  Church.  [ch.  v. 

uity,  or  upon  any  other  occasion,  to  the  glory  of  God  and 
the  putting  a  stop  to  all  heretical  pravity  :  ordering  by  our 
apostolic  authority,  that  if  any  bishop  be  found  wanting 
or  slow  herein,  he  be  suspended  for  three  years  from  his 
•episcopal  dignity  and  administration. 
I  Furthermore,  with  the  counsel  and  advice  of  bishops, 
and  intimation  of  the  emperor  and  princes  of  the  empire, 
we  do  add,  That  every  archbishop  or  bishop,  either  in  his 
own  person  or  by  his  archdeacon,  or  by  other  honest  and 
fit  persons,  shall  once  or  twice  in  the  year  visit  the  parish 
in  which  it  is  reported  that  heretics  dwell,  and  there  cause 
two  or  three  men  of  good  credit,  or  if  need  be,  the  whole 
neighbourhood,  to  swear  that  if  they  know  of  any  heretics 
there,  or  any  that  frequent  private  meetings,  or  that  differ 
from  the  common  conversation  of  mankind,  either  in  life 
or  manners,  they  will  signify  the  same  to  the  bishop  or 
archdeacon  :  The  bishop  also  or  archdeacon  shall  summon 
before  them  the  parties  accused,  who,  unless  they  at  their 
discretion,  according  to  the  custom  of  the  country,  do  clear 
themselves  of  the  guilt  laid  to  their  charge ;  or  if  after 
having  so  cleared  themselves,  they  relapse  again  to  their 
former  unbelief,  they  shall  be  punislied  at  the  bishop's  discre- 
tion. And  if  any  of  them,  by  a  damnable  superstition, 
.shall  refuse  to  swear,  that  alone  shall  suffice  to  convict  tliem 
of  being  heretics,  and  liable  to  the  punishments  before-men- 
tioned. 

We  ordain  further.  That  all  earls,  barons,  governors,  and 
consuls  of  cities  and  other  places,  in  pursuance  of  the  com- 
nionition  of  the  respective  archbishops  and  bishops,  shall 
promise  upon  oath,  that  in  all  tiiese  particulars,  whenever 
they  are  required  so  to  do,  they  will  powerfully  and  effec- 
tually assist  the  church  against  heretics  and  their  accom- 
plices ;  and  endeavour  faithfully,  according  to  their  office 
and  power,  to  execute  the  ecclesiastical  and  imperial  sta- 
tutes concerning  the  matters  herein  mentioned. 

But  if  any  of  them  shall  refuse  to  observe  this,  they  shall 
be  deprived  of  their  honours  and  charges,  and  be  rendered 


SECT.  I.]    King  of  Arragon's  edict  against  heretics.  17 

incapable  of  receiving  others ;  and,  moreover,  be  involved 
in  the  sentence  of  excommunication,  and  tlieir  goods  be 
confiscated  to  the  use  of  the  church.  And  if  any  city  shall 
refuse  to  yield  obedience  to  these  Decretal  Constitutions, 
or  that  contrary  to  the  episcopal  commonition  they  shall  ne- 
glect to  punish  opposers,  Wc  ordain  the  same  to  be  ex- 
cluded from  all  commerce  with  other  cities,  and  to  be 
deprived  of  the  episcopal  dignit}^ 

We  likewise  decree.  That  all  favourers  of  heretics,  as 
men  stigmatized  with  perpetual  infamy,  shall  be  incapable 
of  being  attorneys  or  witnesses,  or  of  bearing  any  public 
office  whatsoever.  And  as  for  those  who  are  exempt  from 
the  law  of  diocesan  jurisdiction,  as  being  immediately  un- 
der the  jurisdiction  of  the  Apostohc  See ;  nevertheless,  as 
to  these  constitutions  against  heretics,  we  will,  That  they 
be  subject  to  the  judgment  of  the  archbishop  and  bishops, 
and  that  in  this  case  they  yield  obedience  to  them,  as  to  the 
delegates  of  the  Apostohc  See,  the  immunity  of  their  pri- 
vileges notwithstanding. 


Ildefonsus,  king  of  Arragon,  also  testified  his  zeal  against 
the  Waldenses,  by  an  edict  published  in  the  year  1194, 
from  the  tenour  of  which  we  are  authorized  to  infer,  that 
the  doctrine  of  Waldo  had  not  only  found  its  way  into 
Spain,  but  that  it  had  got  such  footing  there  as  to  create  no 
little  alarm,  and  call  forth  the  determined  interference  of 
the  government.  The  following  is  a  copy  of  this  severe 
edict,  as  given  by  Pegna,  in  his  notes  on  the  "Directory 
of  the  Inquisitors." 

"Ildefonsus,  by  the  grace  of  God,  King  of  Arragon, 
Earl  of  Barcelona,  Marquis  of  Provence,  to  all  archbishops, 
bishops,  and  other  prelates  of  the  church  of  God,  earls, 
viscounts,  knights,  and  to  all  people  of  his  kingdom,  or 
belonging  to  his  dominions,  wisheth  health,  and  the  sound 
observance  of  the  Christian  Religion. 


18  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [ch.  v. 

Forasmuch  as  it  hath  pleased  God  to  set  us  over  his 
people,  it  is  but  fit  and  just,  that  according  to  our  might  we 
should  1)C  continually  solicitous  for  the  welfare  and  defence 
of  the  same  ;  a\  herefore  we,  in  imitation  of  our  ancestors, 
and  in  obedience  to  the  canons  which  determine  and  ordain 
heretics,  as  persons  cast  out  from  the  sight  of  God  and  all 
Catholics,  to  be  condemned  and  persecuted  every  where, 
do  command  and  charge  the  Waldenses,  Inzabbati,  who 
otherwise  are  called,  "the  poor  of  Lyons,"  and  all  other 
heretics  who  cannot  be  numbered,  being  excommunicated 
from  the  hoi}'  church,  adversaries  to  the  cross  of  Christ, 
violators  and  corrupters  of  the  Christian  religion,  and  the 
avowed  enemies  of  us  and  our  kingdom,  to  depart  out  of 
our  kingdom  and  all  our  dominions.  Whosoever,  there- 
fore, from  this  day  forward,  shall  presume  to  receive  the 
said  Waldenses  and  Inzabbati,  or  any  other  heretics  of 
whatsoever  profession,  into  their  houses,  or  to  be  present  at 
their  peniicious  sermons,  or  to  aflbrd  them  meat,  or  any 
other  favour,  shall  thereby  incur  the  indignation  of  Al- 
mighty God,  as  well  as  ours,  and  have  his  goods  confisca- 
ted, without  the  remedy  of  an  appeal,  and  be  punished  as  if 
he  were  actually  guilty  of  high  treason.  And  we  strictly 
charge  and  command,  that  this  our  edict  and  perpetual 
constitution  be  publicly  read  on  the  Lord's  days  by  the 
bishops  and  other  rectors  of  churches,  in  all  the  cities,  cas- 
tles, and  towns  of  our  kingdom,  and  throughout  all  our  do- 
minions :  and  that  the  same  be  observed  by  vicars,  bailiffs, 
justices,  &;c.,  and  all  the  people  in  general ;  and  the  afore- 
said punishment  be  inflicted  on  all  transgressors.^ 

We  further  will,  Tliat  if  any  person,  noble  or  ignoble, 
shall  in  any  part  of  our  dominions  find  any  of  these  wicked 
wretches,  who  shall  be  known  to  have  had  three  days'  no- 
tice of  this  our  Edict,  and  that  do  not  forthwith  depart,  but 
rather  are  obstinately  found  staying  or  lingering ;  let  such 
know  that  if  they  shall  any  way  plague,  despitefully  use  or 
distress  them,  wounding  unto  death  and  maiming  of  them 
only  excepted,  he  v/ill  in  so  doing  perform  nothhie-  hvt 


SECT.  II.]    Reinerhis^s  account  of  the  JValdenses.  19 

what  will  be  very  grateful  and  pleasing  to  us,  and  shall  be 
so  far  from  fearing  to  incur  any  penalty  thereby,  that  he 
may  be  sure  rather  to  deserve  our  favour.  Furthermore, 
we  give  these  wicked  miscreants  respite,  though  that  may 
seem  somewhat  contrary  to  reason  and  our  duty,  till  the 
day  after  All  Saints  day  :  but  that  all  those  who  either 
shall  not  be  gone  by  that  time,  or  at  least  preparing  for 
their  departure,  shall  be  spoiled,  beaten,  cudgelled,  and 
shamefully  ill-treated.'' 


SZSCTIOIN  II. 

Some  account  of  the  Doctrinal  Senfimenis  and  Religious 
Practices  of  the  JValdenseSy  collected  from  the  writings 
of  their  adversaries. 

It  is  intended,  in  this  and  the  tivo  following  sections,  to 
lay  before  the  reader  a  more  detailed  account  of  the  prin- 
ciples and  practices  of  the  Waldenses,  than  hath  hitherto 
been  given ;  and  there  appears  no  method  of  doing  this 
more  satisfactorily,  than  by  first  hearing  the  charges  al- 
leged against  them  by  their  adversaries  of  the  Romish 
church ;  and  then  attending  to  the  apologies,  reasonings, 
and  confessions  of  faith  which,  from  time  to  time,  that  ever 
laudable  principle  of  self-defence  necessarily  extorted  from 
them.  This  is  the  plan,  therefore,  which  I  propose  to  pur- 
sue, and  the  present  section  shall  be  devoted  to  the  testi- 
mony of  their  adversaries. 

Reinerius  Saccho,  whose  name  I  have  had  occasion 
more  than  once  to  mention,  was  for  seventeen  years  of  the 
earlier  part  of  his  life,  in  some  way  or  other,  connected 
with  the  Waldenses  ;  but  he  apostatized  from  their  profes- 
sion, entered  the  Catholic  church,  was  raised  in  it  to  the 
dignified  station  of  an  inquisitor,  and  became  one  of  their 
most  cruel  persecutors.      He  was  deputed  by  the  pope  to 


20  History  of  the  Christian  Church.         [ch.  v, 

reside  in  Lombardy,  in  the  south  of  France ;  and  about  the 
year  1250,  published  a  catalogue  of  the  errors  of  the 
Waldenses  under  three  and  thirty  distinct  heads.  The 
reader  who  wishes  to  peruse  the  original  Latin,  may  find  it 
in  Dr.  Allix's  Remarks  upon  the  Churches  of  Piedmont, 
p.  188 — 191.     The  following  is  a  faithful  translation. 

Their  first  error,  says  he,  is  a  contempt  of  ecclesiastical 
power,  and  from  thence  they  have  been  delivered  up  to 
Satan,  and  by  him  cast  headlong  into  innumerable  errors, 
mixing  the  erroneous  doctrines  of  the  heretics  of  old  with 
their  own  inventions.  And  being  cast  out  of  the  catholic 
church,  they  affirm  that  they  alone  are  the  church  of  Christ 
and  his  disciples.  They  declare  themselves  to  be  the 
apostles'  successors,  to  have  apostolical  authority,  and  the 
keys  of  binding  and  loosing.  They  hold  the  church  of 
Rome  to  be  the  whore  of  Babylon,  (Rev.  ch.  xvii.)  and 
that  all  that  obey  her  are  damned,  especially  the  clergy 
that  have  been  subject  to  her  since  the  time  of  Pope  Syl- 
vester.* They  deny  that  any  true  miracles  are  wrought 
in  the  church,  because  none  of  themselves  ever  worked 
any.  They  hold,  that  none  of  the  ordinances  of  the  church, 
which  have  been  introduced  since  Christ's  ascension,  ought 
to  be  observed,  as  being  of  no  value.  The  feasts,  fasts, 
orders,  blessings,  offices  of  the  church,  and  the  like,  they 
utterly  reject.  They  speak  against  consecrated  churches, 
churchyards,  and  other  things  of  the  like  nature,  declaring 
that  they  were  the  inventions  of  covetous  priests,  to  aug- 
ment their  own  gains,  in  spnnging  the  people  by  those 
means  of  their  money  and  oblations.  They  say,  that  a 
man  is  then  first  baptized  when  he  is  received  into  their 
communit}'.  Some  of  them  hold  that  baptism  is  of  no  ad- 
vantage to  infants,  because  they  cannot  actually  believe. 
They  reject  the  sacrament  of  confirmation,  but  instead  of 
that,  their  teachers  lay  their  hands    upon  their  disciples. 


*  This  pontlfi"  vTiis  bishop  of  Komo  in  the  day)  of  Constantine  the 
Great,  about  the  vcar  350. 


SECT.  II.]     Reinerius^s  account  of  the  Waldenses.  21 

They  say,  the  bishops,  clergy,  and  other  rehgious  orders  are 
no  better  than  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees,  and  other  persecu- 
tors of  the  apostles.  They  do  not  believe  the  body  and 
blood  of  Christ  to  be  the  true  sacrament,  but  only  blessed 
bread,  which  by  a  figure  only  is  called  the  body  of  Christ, 
even  as  it  is  said,  "  and  the  rock  was  Christ,"  &ic.  Some 
of  them  hold  that  this  sacrament  can  only  be  celebrated  by 
those  that  are  good,*  others  again  by  any  that  know  the 
words  of  consecration.  This  sacrament  they  celebrate  in 
their  assemblies,  repeating  the  words  of  the  gospel  at  their 
table,  and  participating  together,  in  imitation  of  Christ's 
supper.  They  say  that .  a  priest  who  is  a  sinner,  cannot 
bind  or  loose  any  one,  as  being  himself  bound  :  and  that 
any  good  and  intelligent  layman  may  absolve  another,  and 
impose  penance.  They  reject  extreme  unction,  declaring 
it  to  be  rather  a  curse  than  a  sacrament.  Marriage,  say 
they,  is  nothing  else  but  sworn  fornication,  unless  the  par- 
ties live  continently,  and  account  any  filthiness  preferable 
to  the  conjugal  rites.  They  praise  continence  indeed, 
but  in  the  mean-time  give  way  to  the  satisfying  of  burning 
lusts  by  any  filthy  means  whatsoever,  expounding  that 
place  of  the  apostle,  "  It  is  better  to  marry  than  to  burn," 
thus :  that  it  is  better  to  satisfy  one's  hist  by  any  filthy  act, 
than  to  be  tempted  therewith  in  the  heart. f     But  this  they 

*  The  meaning'  of  this  does  not  seem  very  obvious.  The  words  in 
the  original  are,  Quidam  autem  hoc  dicunt  tantum  per  bonos  Jieri,  alii 
per  omnes  qui  verba  consecrafionis  sciunt ;  and  the  reason  of  the  ob- 
scurity is,  that,  as  I  shall  hereafter  show,  they  did  not  allow  any  but 
pastors  to  administer  the  eucharist. 

f  There  appears  something  like  a  consciousness  about  Reinerius, 
that  in  this' monstrous  accusation  he  was  calumniating  the  Waldenses, 
for  in  the  following  words  he  qualifies  the  charge  by  describing  them 
as  not  avowing  it.  The  reader  will  presently  see  their  sentiments  on 
the  subject  of  marriage,  and  be  convinced  of  the  foulness  of  this  slan- 
der. I^hall,  therefore,  at  present,  only  quote  from  their  own  apology 
a  short  extract,  in  which  they  repel  the  charge  of  countenancing  lasci- 
viousness.  "  It  was  tliis  vice,"  say  they,  "  that  led  David  to  procure 
the  death  of  his  faithful  servant,  that  he  might  enjoy  his  wife — and 
-Ajnnon  to  defile  his  sister  Tamar.    This  vice  cojisumes  the  estates  of 

Vol.  If.  E 


22  History  of  the.  Christian  Church.  [cH.  v. 

conceal  as  much  as  possible,  that  they  may  not  be  re- 
proached therewith.  If  any  honest  woman  among  them 
that  has  the  repute  of  chastity,  is  brought  to  bed  of  a  child, 
they  carefully  conceal  it,  and  send  it  abroad  to  be  nursed, 
that  it  may  not  be  known.  They  hold  all  oaths  to  be  un- 
lawful, and  a  mortal  sin,  yet  they  dispense  with  them  when 
it  is  done  to  avoid  death,  lest  they  should  betray  their  ac- 
complices, or  the  secret  of  their  infidelity.  They  hold  it 
to  be  an  unpardonable  sin  to  betray  a  heretic,  yea  the 
very  sin  against  the  Holy  Ghost.  They  say  that  malefac- 
tors ought  not  to  be  put  to  death  by  the  secular  power. 
Some  of  them  hold  it  unlawful  to  kill  brute  animals,  as 
fishes,  or  the  like  ;  but  when  they  have  a  mind  to  eat  them, 
they  hang  them  over  the  fire  or  smoke  till  they  die.  Fleas 
and  such  sort  of  insects  they  shake  ofl'  their  clothes,  or  else 
dip  their  clothes  in  hot  water,  supposing  them  thus  to  be 
dead  of  themselves.*  Thus  they  cheat  tlieir  own  con- 
sciences in  this  and  other  observances.  From  whence  we 
may  see,  that  having  forsaken  truth,  they  deceive  them- 
selves with  their  own  false  notions.  According  to  them, 
there  is  no  purgatory,  and  all  that  die,  immediately  pass 
either  into  heaven  or  hell.  That  therefore  the  prayers  of 
the  church  for  the  dead  are  of  no  use,  because  those  that 
are  in  heaven  do  not  want  them,  nor  can  those  that  are  in 
hell  be  relieved  by  them.  And  from  thence  they  infer, 
that  all  oflerings  made  for  the  dead  are  only  of  use  to  the 
clergymen  that  eat  them,  and  not  to  the  deceased,  who  are 

many,  as  it  is  said  of  the  prodigal  son,  wlio  wasted  his  substance  in 
riotous  living.  Balaam  made  choice  of  this  vice  to  provoke  the  chil- 
dren of  Israel  to  sin,  which  occasioned  tlic  death  of  twenty-four  thou- 
sand persons.  This  sin  was  the  occasion  of  Sampson's  losing-  his  sight ; 
it  perverted  Solomon,  and  many  have  perished  through  the  beauty  of 
a  woman.  The  remedies  for  this  sin  are  fasting,  prayer,  and  keeping 
at  a  distance  from  it.  Other  vices  may  be  subdued  by  fighting ;  in 
this  we  conquer  by  flight ;  of  which  we  have  an  example  in  Joseph."— 
Perrin's  Hist.  ch.  iv. 

*  Many  will  think  that  Reiuerius  must  have  been  at  a  great  loss  for 
substantial  grounds  of  accusation  against  the  Waldenses,  when  hc^ 
could  condescend  to  enumerate  such  childish  things  as  these. 


SECT.  II.]     Reinerius^s  account  of  the  Waldenses.  23 

incapable  of  being  profited  by  them.  Tliey  hold,  that  the 
saints  in  heaven  do  not  hear  the  prayers  of  the  faithful,  nor 
regard  the  honours  which  are  done  to  them,  because  their 
bodies  lie  dead  here  beneath,  and  their  spirits  are  at  so 
great  a  distance  from  us  in  heaven,  that  they  can  neither 
hear  our  prayers  nor  see  the  honours  which  we  pay  them. 
They  add,  that  the  saints  do  not  pray  for  us,  and  that  there- 
fore, we  are  not  to  entreat  their  intercession,  because,  being 
swallowed  up  with  heavenly  joy,  they  cannot  attend  to  us, 
nor  indeed  to  any  thing  else.  Hence  they  deride  all  the 
festivals  which  we  celebrate  in  honour  of  the  saints,  and  all 
other  instances  of  our  veneration  for  them.  Accordingly, 
wherever  they  can  do  it,  they  secretly  work  upon  holy- 
days,  arguing,  that  since  working  is  good,  it  cannot  be 
evil  to  do  that  which  is  good  on  a  holy-day.  They  do 
not  observe  Lent,  or  other  fasts  of  the  church,  alleging 
tliat  God  does  not  delight  in  the  afflictions  of  his  friends, 
as  being  able  to  save  without  them.  Some  heretics  indeed 
afflict  themselves  with  fasting,  watchings,  and  the  like, 
because  without  these  they  cannot  obtain  the  reputation  of 
being  holy  among  the  simple  people,  nor  deceive  them  by 
their  feigned  hypocrisy.  They  do  not  receive  the  Old 
Testament,  but  the  Gospel  onl}' ,  that  they  may  not  be  over- 
thrown by  it,  but  rather  be  able  to  defend  themselves  there- 
with ;  pretending  that  upon  the  introduction  of  the  gospel 
dispensation  all  old  things  were  to  be  laid  aside.*  In  like 
manner  they  select  the  choicest  sayings  and  authorities  of 
the  holy  fathers,  such  as  Augustine,  Jerome,  Gregory, 
Chrysostom,  and  Isidore,  that  with  them  they  may  sup- 
port their  opinions,  oppose  others,  or  the  more  easily  se- 
duce the  simple,  by  varnishing  over  their  sacrilegious  doc- 
trine with  the  good  sentences  of  the  saints,  at  the  same  time 
very  quietly  passing  over  those  parts  of  the  writings  of  the 
holy  fathers  that  oppose  and  confute  their  errors.     Such  as 

*  This  is  precisely  the  charge  which  was  brought  against  the  Pauli- 
cians;  see  note^  Vol.  I.  ch.  iii.  sect.  4.  and  the  remarks  there  offered 
upon  it. 


24  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [CH.  v. 

are  teachable  and  eloquent  among  them,  they  instruct  to 
get  the  words  of  the  gospel,  as  well  as  the  sayhigs  of  the 
apostles,  and  other  holy  men  by  heart,  that  they  may  be 
able  to  inform  others,  and  draw  in  believers,  beautifying 
their  sect  with  the  goodly  words  of  the  saints,  that  the 
things  they  persuade  and  recommend  may  pass  for  sound 
and  wholesome  doctrine  ; — thus  by  their  soft  speeches  de- 
ceiving the  hearts  of  the  simple.  And  not  only  the  men, 
but  even  their  women  also  teach*  amongst  them,  because 
women  have  an  easier  access  to  those  of  their  own  sex,  to 
pervert  them,  that  afterwards,  by  their  means,  the  men  may 
be  perverted  also,  as  the  serpent  deceived  Adam  by  means 
of  Eve.  They  teach  their  disciples  to  speak  in  dark  and 
obscure  words,  and  instead  of  speaking  truth,  to  endeavour 
to  speak  lies ;  that  when  they  are  asked  about  one  thing, 
they  might  perversely  answer  about  another,  and  thus 
craftily  deceive  their  hearers,  especially  when  they  fear 
that  by  confessing  the  truth,  they  should  discover  their 
errors.  In  the  same  dissembling  manner  they  frequent  our 
churches,  are  present  at  divine  service,  offer  at  the  altar, 
receive  the  sacrament,  confess  to  the  priests,  observe  the 
church  fasts,  celebrate  festivals,  and  receive  the  priest's 
blessing,  reverently  bowing  their  heads,  though  in  the 
mean-time  they  scoff  at  all  these  institutions  of  the  church, 
looking  upon  them  as  profane  and  hurtful.  They  say 
it  is  sufficient  for  their  salvation  if  they  confess  to  God, 
and  not  to  man." 

Such  is  the  view  which  Reinerius  gave  of  the  principles 
of  the  Waldenses,  about  eighty  j^ears  subsequent  to  the 
times  of  Peter  Waldo  j  and  we  must  understand  this  de  - 


*  The  reader  must  not  understand  the  teaching-  here  alluded  to  as 
referring'  to  public  teaching  in  the  church,  for  the  Waldenses  permitted 
nothing  of  that  kind  in  their  females,  and  the  Scriptures  pointedly  for- 
bid it:  but  he  refers  to  their  mode  of  propagating  their  sentiments  by 
conversation,  and  I  shall  have  an  opportunity  of  showing,  in  a  future 
section,  from  the  writings  of  this  same  Reinerius,  the  very  simple  and 
striking  manner  in  which  they  did  this. 


SECT.  II.]       The  Albigenses  not  Manichccans.  25 

scription  as  applicable  to  one  general  class  of  Christians, 
scattered  throughout  the  south  of  France,  the  valleys  of 
the  Pyrenean  mountains,  the  valleys  of  Piedmont,  and  the 
country  of  the  Milanese;  though  probably  distinguished 
in  different  places  by  the  different  names  of  Puritans,  or 
Catharists,  Paterines,  Arnoldists,  Leonists,  Albigenses,  or 
Waldenses,  the  last  of  which  ultimately  became  their  more 
general  appellation.*  No  doubt  there  were  shades  of  dif- 
ference in  sentiment  among  them  on  points  of  minor 
importance,  even  as  there  are  among  Christians  in  the 
present  day;  and  it  is  very  certain  that  the  Catholic  writers 
sometimes  class  under  the  general  name  of  Waldenses  or 
Albigenses,  persons  whose  theological  sentiments  and  re- 
ligious practices  were  very  opposite  to  those  which  were 
professed  by  the  followers  of  Peter  Waldo.  "  The  practice 
of  confounding  heretics  of  all  kinds  in  one  common  herd," 
says  Mr.  Robinson,  "hath  been  an  ancient  custom  with 
ecclesiastical  historians,  and  it  hath  obscured  history."-}- 
This  is  a  very  just  remark,  and  the  reader  who  would  not 
be  imposed  upon  by  those  writers,  will  find  it  of  great  im- 
portance to  attend  to  it.  He  himself,  however,  tells  us 
that  the  Albigenses  were  Manichaeans,J  or  nearly  so,  and 

*  "  Nothing  is  so  well  known  to  the  curious  in  these  matters,  as  the 
following  verses  upon  the  Vaudois  [Waldenses)  in  the  year  1100 — 

Que  non  vogli  maudir  ne  jura,  ne  mentir, 
N'occir,  ne  avoutrar,  ne  prenre  de  altrui, 
Ne  s'  avengear  deli  suo  ennemi, 
Loz  dison  qu'  es  Vaudes  &  los  feson  morir. 

THAT    IS 

Whosoever  refuses  to  curse,  to  swear,  to  lie,  to  kill,  to  commit  adultery, 
to  steal,  to  be  revenged  of  his  enemy — they  say  he  is  a  Vaudois,  and 
therefore  they  put  him  to  death."     Voltaire's  Gen.  History,  ch.  Ixix. 

■f  Eccles.  Researches,  p.  463. 

X  The  sect  of  the  Manichaeans  derived  its  origin  from  a  person  of  the 
name  of  Manes,  or  Manichajus,  as  he  is  sometimes  called  by  his  disci- 
ples. He  was  by  birth  a  Persian,  educated  among  the  magi,  and 
himself  one  of  their  number  before  he  embraced  the  profession  of 
Christianity,  about  the  end  of  the  third  centuiy.  Ilis  doctrine  was  a 
motley  mixture  of  the  tenets  of  Christianity,  with  the  ancient  philoso- 


26  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [en.  v. 

that  they  differed  from  the  Vaudois  and  Waldenses.  That 
hidividuals,  or  even  a  sect,  holding  those  wild  and  extra- 

phy  of  the  Persians,  in  which  he  had  been  instructed  during  his  youth. 
The  following'  view  of  his  system  is  given  by  Dr.  Moshiem,  Vol.  I 
Cent.  iii.  ch.  v.  "That  there  are  two  principles  from  which  all  things 
proceed — the  one  a  most  pure  and  subtle  matter,  called  Light,  the 
other  a  gross  and  corrupt  substance  called  Darkness.  The  being 
who  presides  over  light  is  called  God — he  that  rules  the  land  of  dark- 
ness bears  the  name  of  Hyle,  or  Demon.  The  ruler  of  the  light  is 
supremely  happy,  and  consequently  benevolent  and  good — the  prince 
of  darkness  is  unhappy  in  himself,  and  desiring  to  render  others  par- 
takers of  his  misery,  is  evil  and  malignant.  These  two  beings  have 
produced  an  immense  multitude  of  creatures,  resembling  themselves, 
whom  they  have  distributed  through  their  respective  provinces.  He 
held  that  Christ  is  that  glorious  intelligence  whom  the  Persians  called 
Mithras — a  splendid  substance,  endowed  with  life,  and  having  his  re- 
sidence in  the  sun.  The  Holy  Ghost,  a  luminous  and  animated  body 
diffused  throughout  every  part  of  the  atmosphere  which  surrounds  this 
terrestial  globe.  He  held  that  the  God  of  the  Jews  was  the  prince  of 
darkness — affirmed  that  the  Old  Testament  was  not  the  word  of  God, 
but  of  the  prince  of  darkness,  and  rejected  as  spurious  the  four  Gospels, 
and  indeed  most  of  the  canonical  scriptures — maintained  the  transmi- 
gration of  souls,"  kc,  SiC. 

•  It  is  really  surprising  that  Mr.  Eobinson,  the  acute,  the  ingenious, 
the  liberal  minded  Mr.  Robinson,  should  have  charged  the  Albigenses 
with  adopting  this  absurd  system,  without  producing  any  evidence  to 
support  such  an  opinion.  Few  writers  have  combated  the  foul  mis- 
representations of  the  Catholics  with  more  zeal  and  success  than  he 
has  done  ;  but  in  this  instance  he  has  joined  their  senseless  clamour 
against  the  Albigenses.  It  is  a  verj'  questionable  point,  whether  the 
sect  of  the  Manichaeans  had  any  existence  at  the  period  of  which  Mr. 
R.  is  treating,  and  I  am  strongly  inclined  to  think  they  had  not,  at  least 
in  Europe.  But  even  though  that  could  be  proved,  I  may  venture  to 
affirm  that  it  was  utterly  out  of  the  power  of  Mr.  R.  or  any  other  per- 
son to  produce  from  the  confessions,  catechisms,  testimonies,  or  con- 
duct of  the  Albigenses  tlie  least  trace  of  Manichaeism.  I  am  tempted 
on  this  occasion  to  adopt  the  lofty  language  of  Dr.  Allix,  when  defend- 
ing tlie  Piedmontese  Waldenses  from  tlic  same  charge  brought  against 
them  by  the  Catholic  bishop  Bossuet.  "I  defy  the  impudence  of  the 
devil,himself,"  says  he,  "  to  find  in  their  writings  the  least  shadow  of 
Manichaeism."  Remarks,  ch.  1 7.  The  fact  is,  that,  on  this  subject, 
the  catholic  writers  misled  Mosheim  and  Limborch ;  and  these  latter 
historians  have  misled  Mr.  Robinson.  Indeed  an  impartial  reader  will 
easily  perceive  throughout  this  gentleman's  account  of  "  the  Valleys 
of  Piedmont,"  in  his  Ecclesiastical  Researches,  the  strongest  indica- 
tions of  a  jaundiced  eye.     Speaking  of  Leger's  History  of  the  Wal- 


SECT.  II.]         The  Alhigemes  not  Manichaans.  27 

vagant  opinions,  may  have  existed  at  that  time,  and  been 
classed  by  the  cathohc  writers  under  the  head  of  Albigenses, 
is  not  impossible,  though  I  have  met  with  no  evidence  that 
puts  the  fact  beyond  dispute;  and  the  historians  of  the 
latter  gave  a  very  easy  and  natural  solution  of  the  reason 
of  their  being  accused  of  Manicha^ism.  But,  whatever 
may  be  in  this,  the  following  facts  are  indisputable ;  that 
the  general  body  of  the  Albigenses  received  the  doctrines 
of  Peter  Waldo — that  these  doctrines  had  no  connexion 
with  Manichseism — and  that  the  Waldenses  and  Albigenses 
were  two  branches  of  the  same  sect,  inhabiting  different 
countries,  each  deriving  its  appellation  from  its  local 
residence. 

In  the  sketch  which  Reinerius  has  furnished  of  the  prin- 
ciples of  the  Waldenses,  it  is  to  be  remarked,  that  there  is 
not  the  slightest  allusion  to  any  erroneous  opinions  main- 
tained by  them,  regarding  the  faith  and  doctrines  of  the 
gospel,  and  this  is  a  noble  testimony  to  the  soundness  of 
iheir  creed.  For  having  himself  been  connected  with 
them, — a  man  of  learning  and  talents,  he  doubtless  was  in- 
timately acquainted  with  their  doctrinal  sentiments ;  and,^ 
having  apostatized  from  their  profession  and  become  their 
determined  adversary,  he  did  not  want  inclination  to  bring 
forward  any  accusation  against  them  which  could  be  done 
with  the  smallest  regard  to  decency  on  his  own  part.  The 
errors  of  which  he  accuses  them  (a  few  instances  excepted, 
and  on  which  they  repelled  his  slanderous  charges)  are 
such  as  no  protestant  dissenter  of  the  present  day  would 
shrink  from  the  odium  which  is  connected  with  holding, 
since  they  will  all  be  found  in  one  way  or  other  to  resolve 


(lenses,  lie  adds,  "  Orthodoxy  is  proved  and  o?erproved  in  it,  for  it  ivill 
be  allowed  that  an  apostolical  church  witli  the  Athanasian  creed  is 
above  par."  lie  cannot  therefore  believe  that  the  Catholics  inflicted 
upon  the  "  poor  Waldenses,"  the^horrible  cruelties  which  are  detailed 
by  Leger,  though  he  has  no  difficulty  in  believing  them  to  have  inflicted 
cruelties  full  as  g^reat  upon  others ! ! 


28  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [cH.  v. 

themselves  into  the  unfounded  claims  of  the  clergy,  or  the 
introduction  of  human  traditions  and  the  basest  superstition 
into  the  worship  of  God. 

It  will  be  recollected  that,  towards  the  close  of  the  former 
section,  it  was  stated  that  Peter  Waldo,  after  disseminating 
his  doctrines  in  France  and  Germany,  was  at  last  driven 
into  Bohemia,  where  he  spent  the  last  jears  of  his  life  in 
preaching  the  gospel,  which  he  did  with  the  most  astonish- 
ing success.  That  kingdom  comprehended  what  is  now 
included  in  the  dutchy  of  Silesia,  and  the  marquisate  of 
Moravia.  The  country  is  about  three  hundred  miles  long 
and  two  hundred  and  fifty  broad,  almost  wholly  surrounded 
with  impenetrable  forests  and  lofty  mountains.  The  soil, 
where  it  is  cultivated,  is  fruitful,  and  yields  corn  enough 
for  the  use  of  its  inhabitants,  which  are  computed  at  three 
millions  in  number,  leaving  a  considerable  surplus,  fre- 
quently, for  exportation.  Its  pasture-lands  produce  abun- 
dance of  cattle,  particularly  horses  fit  for  war.  They  have 
inexhaustible  mines  of  gold,  silver,  copper,  tin,  iron,  lead, 
sulphur,  and  nitre  ;  and  their  carbuncles,  emeralds,  and 
other  precious  stones,  are  vended  all  over  Europe.  Crantz, 
who  wrote  the  history  of  the  Bohemian  brethren,  mentions 
a  colony  of  Waldenses  as  obtaining  permission  to  settle  at 
Saltz  and  Laun,  on  the  river  Eger,  so  early  as  the  twelfth 
century,  which,  the  coincidence  of  time  renders  it  highly 
probable,  refers  to  the  persecuted  Waldo  and  his  brethren. 
Certain  it  is,  that  his  labours  were  crowned  with  great  suc- 
cess in  that  country ;  and  we  have  two  noted  authors  who 
have  left  us  a  particular  account  of  the  faith  and  practices 
of  the  Waldenses  in  Bohemia,  during  the  fourteenth  cen- 
tury, at  which  time  their  numbers  had  increased  very  con- 
siderably, and  they  had  to  sustain  the  fire  of  papal  perse- 
cution. The  first  is  an  inquisitor  of  the  church  of  Rome, 
who  says,  "he  had  exact  knoioledge  of  the  Waldeiises,'" 
at  whose  trials  he  had  often  assisted,  in  several  countries. 
The  other  is  ^Eneas  Sylvius,  who  wrote  the  history  of  Bo- 


SECT.  IX.]     Waldenses  described  by  an  Inquisitor.  29 

hernia,  and  afterwards  ascended  the  pontifical  chair  with 
the  title  of  Pope  Pius  II.  Thus  writes  the  inquisitor  con- 
cerning the  Waldenses  of  Bohemia. 

The  first  error  of  the  Waldenses,  says  he,  is,  that  they 
affirm  the  church  of  Rome  is  not  the  church  of  Jesus  Christ, 
but  an  assembly  of  ungodly  men,  and  that  she  has  ceased 
from  being  the  true  church,  from  the  time  of  Pope  Sylves- 
ter, at  which  time  the  poison  of  temporal  advantages  was 
cast  into  the  church — That  all  vices  and  sins  reign  in  that 
church,  and  that  they  alone  live  righteously — That  they  are 
the  true  church  of  Christ,  and  that  the  church  of  Rome  is 
the  whore  mentioned  in  the  Revelation.  They  despise  and 
reject  all  the  ordinances  and  statutes  of  the  church  as  being 
too  many  and  very  burdensome.  They  insist  that  the 
pope  is  the  head  and  leader  of  all  error — That  the  prelates 
are  the  scribes  and  seemingly  religious  pharisees — That 
the  popes  and  their  bishops,  on  account  of  the  wars  they 
foment,  are  murderers — That  our  obedience  is  due  to  God 
alone,  and  not  to  prelates,  which  they  found  on  Acts  iv.  9. 
— That  none  in  the  church  ought  to  be  greater  than  their 
brethren,  according  to  Matth.  xx.  25,  Sic. — That  no  man 
ought  to  kneel  to  a  priest,  because  the  angel  said  to  John, 
Rev.  xix.  10.  "  See  thou  do  it  not" — That  tythes  ought 
not  to  be  given  to  priests,  because  there  was  no  use  of  them 
in  the  primitive  church — That  the  clergy  ought  not  to  en- 
joy any  temporal  possessions,  because  it  was  said  in  the 
law,  "  The  tribe  of  Levi  shall  have  no  inheritance  with  the 
children  of  Israel,  the  sacrifices  being  their  portion,"  Deut. 
xviii. — That  it  is  wrong  to  endow  and  found  churches  and 
monasteries,  and  that  nothing  ought  to  be  bequeathed  to 
churches  by  way  of  legacy.  They  condemn  the  clergy 
for  their  idleness,  saying  they  ought  to  work  with  their 
hands  as  the  apostles  did.  They  reject  all  the  titles  of  pre- 
lates, as  pope,  bishop,  &c.  They  affirm  that  no  man  ought 
to  be  forcibly  compelled  in  matters  of  faith.  They  con- 
demn all  ecclesiastical  offices,  and  the  privileges  and  immu- 
nities of  the  church,  and  all  persons  and  things  belonguig 

Vol.  II.  F 


oO  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [cH.  v, 

to  it,  such  as  councils  and  synods,  parochial  rights,  Stc,  de- 
claring that  the  observances  of  the  religious  are  nothing 
else  than  pharisaical  traditions. 

As  to  the  second  class  of  their  errors — They  condemn 
all  the  sacraments  of  the  church.  Concerning  the  sacra- 
ment of  baptism  they  say,  that  the  catechism  signifies  no- 
thing, that  the  absolution  pronounced  over  infants  avails 
them  nothing — that  the  godfathers  and  godmothers  do  not 
understand  what  they  answer  the  priest.  That  the  obla- 
tion which  is  called  Al  wogen  is  nothing  but  a  mere  human 
invention.  They  reject  all  exorcisms  and  blessings.  Con- 
cerning the  eucharist  they  say,  that  a  wicked  priest  cannot 
celebrate  that  sacrament — that  transubstantiation  is  not 
performed  by  the  hands  of  him  who  celebrates  unworthily, 
and  that  it  (the  eucharist)  may  be  celebrated  on  our  com- 
mon tables,  alleging  for  this  the  words  of  Malachi  i.  11. 
"  In  every  place  shall  a  pure  offering  be  offered  to  my 
name."  They  condemn  the  custom  of  believers  com- 
municating no  more  than  once  a  year,  whereas  they 
communicate  daily.*  That  the  mass  signifies  nothing ; 
that  the  apostles  knew  nothing  of  it ;  and  that  it  is  only 
done  for  gain.  They  reject  the  canon  of  the  mass, 
and  only  make  use  of  the  words  of  Christ  in  the  vulgar 
tongue — affirming  that  the  offering  made  by  the  priest  in 
the  mass  is  of  no  value.  They  reject  the  kiss  of  peace, 
that  of  the  altar,  of  the  priest's  hands,  and  the  pope's 
feet.  They  condemn  marriage  as  a  sacrament,  saying  that 
those  that  enter  into  the  state  of  marriage  without  hope  of 
children,  are  guilty  of  sin.  They  have  no  regard  to  the 
degrees  of  carnal  or  spiritual  affinity  in  marriage,  which  the 
church  observes,  nor  the  impediments  of  order  and  public 
decency,  or  to  the  prohibition  of  the  church  in  that  matter. 
They  contend  that  a  woman  after  child-birth  doth  not  stand 
in  need  of  any  blessing  or  churching.     That  it  was  an  error 

*  I  suspect  this  should  have  been  "  every  Lord's  day,  or  first  day  of 
the  week,"  for  it  is  certain  they  did  not  come  together  for  worship  eoery 
day ;  nor  indeed  was  the  thing  practicable. 


3KCT.  M.J       Waldenses  described  by  an  Inquisitor.  31 

of  the  church  to  forbid  the  clergy  to  marr}'.  They  disal- 
Jow  the  iiacrament  of  extreme  unction — they  hold  the  sacra- 
ment of  diilbrent  orders  of  the  clergy  to  be  of  no  use,  every 
good  lajman  being  a  priest,  and  the  apostles  themselves 
being  all  laymen.  That  the  preaching  of  a  wicked  priest 
cannot  profit  any  body,  and  that  which  is  uttered  in  the 
Latin  tongue  can  be  of  no  use  to  those  laymen  who  do  not 
understand  it.  They  deride  the  tonsure  of  priests ;  and 
reproach  the  ciuirch  that  she  raiseth  bastards,  boys  and  no- 
torious sinners  to  high  ecclesiastical  dignities. — Whatsoever 
is  preached  without  scripture  proof,  they  account  no  better 
than  fables.  Tiiey  hold  that  the  Holy  Scripture  is  of  the 
same  efficacy  in  the  vulgar  tongue  as  in  Latin,  and  accord- 
ingly the}'  communicate  and  administer  the  sacraments  in 
the  vulgar  tongue.  They  can  say  a  great  part  of  the  old 
and  new  Testament  b}-  heart.  They  despise  the  decretals, 
and  expositions  of  holy  men,  and  cleave  only  to  the  text  of 
scripture.  They  contemn  excommunication,  neither  do 
they  value  absolution,  which  they  expect  alone  from  God. 
They  reject  the  indulgences  of  the  church,  and  deride  its 
dispensations.  They  admit  none  for  saints  except  the  apos- 
tles, and  they  pray  to  no  saint.  They  contemn  the  canon- 
ization, translation,  and  vigils  of  the  saints.  They  laugh 
at  those  laymen  who  choose  themselves  saints  at  the  altar. 
They  never  read  the  liturgy.  The}^  give  no  credit  to  the 
legends  of  the  saints,  make  a  mock  of  the  saints'  miracles, 
and  despise  their  relics.  They  abhor  the  wood  of  the  cross, 
because  of  Christ's  sufl'ering  on  it ;  neither  do  they  sign 
themselves  with  it.  They  contend  that  the  doctrine  of 
Christ  and  his  apostles  is  sufficient  to  salvation  without  any 
church  statutes  and  ordinances,  and  affirm  that  the  tradi- 
tions of  the  church  were  no  better  than  the  traditions  of 
the  Pharisees — insisting,  moreover,  that  greater  stress  is 
laid  on  the  observation  of  human  tradition,  than  on  the 
keeping  of  the  law  of  God.  They  refute  the  mystical  sense 
of  scripture,  especially  as  delivered  in  sayings  and  actions, 


S3  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [ch.  v. 

and  published  by  the  church,  such  as  that  the  cock   upon 
steeples  signifies  the  pastor  ! 

Their  third  class  of  errors  is  as  follows.  They  contemn 
all  approved  ecclesiastical  customs  which  they  do  not  read 
of  in  the  gospel,  such  as  the  obsei'vation  of  Candlemas, 
Palm-Sunday,  the  reconciliation  of  penitents,  the  adora- 
tion of  the  cross  on  Good -Friday.  They  despise  the  feast 
of  Easter,  and  all  other  festivals  of  Christ  and  the  saints, 
and  say  that  one  day  is  as  good  as  another,  Avorking  upon 
holy-days,  where  they  can  do  it  without  being  taken  notice 
of.  They  disregard  the  church  fasts,  alleging  Isa.  Iviii, 
"  Is  this  the  fast  that  I  have  chosen  .^"  They  deride  and 
mock  at  all  dedications,  consecrations,  and  benedictions  of 
candles,  ashes,  palm-branches,  oil,  fire,  wax-candles,  Agnus 
DeVs,  churching  of  women,  strangers,  holy  places  and  per- 
sons, vestments,  salt  and  water.  They  look  upon  the  church 
built  of  stone  to  be  no  better  than  a  common  barn,  neither 
do  they  beheve  that  God  dwells  there,  quoting  Acts  vii.  48. 
"  God  doth  not  dwell  in  temples  made  with  bands" — and 
that  prayers  offered  up  in  them  are  of  no  more  efficacy 
than  those  which  we  offer  up  in  our  closets,  according  to 
Matt.  vi.  6.  "  But  thou  when  thou  prayest,  enter  into  thy 
closet."  They  set  no  value  on  the  dedication  of  churches, 
and  call  the  ornaments  of  the  altar  "  the  sin  of  the  church," 
saying,  that  it  would  be  much  better  to  clothe  the  poor 
than  to  decorate  walls.  Of  the  altar  they  say,  that  it  is 
wastefulness  to  let  so  much  cloth  he  rotting  upon  the  stones; 
and  that  Christ  never  gave  to  his  disciples  vests,  or  rockets, 
or  mitres.  They  celebrate  the  eucharist  in  their  household 
cups,  and  say  that  the  corporal,  or  cloth  on  which  the  host 
is  laid,  is  no  holier  than  the  cloth  of  their  breeches.  Con- 
cerning lights  used  in  the  church,  they  say  that  God,  who 
is  the  true  light,  stands  in  no  need  of  light,  and  that  it  can 
have  no  further  use  than  to  hinder  the  priests  from  stum- 
bling in  the  dark.  They  reject  all  censings ;  estimating 
holy  water  no  better  than  common  water.    The  images  and 


SECT.  II.]  Waldenses  described  by  an  Inquisitor.  33 

pictures  in  the  church  they  pronounce  to  be  idolatrous. 
They  mock  at  the  singing  [chanting]  in  churches,  saying 
that  the  efficacy  is  in  the  words  and  not  in  the  music. 
They  deride  the  cries  of  the  laymen,  and  reject  all  festival 
processions,  as  those  of  Easter,  as  well  as  mournful  proces- 
sions at  Rogation  week  and  at  funerals.  They  laugh  at 
the  custom  of  bringing  sick  persons  on  a  bench  before  the 
altar.  They  dissuade  people  from  going  on  a  pilgrimage 
to  Rome,  and  other  places  beyond  sea,  though  they  them- 
selves pretend  to  go  on  pilgrimage,  whereas  it  is  only  with 
a  design  to  visit  their  bishops  who  live  in  Lombardy.  They 
express  no  value  for  the  Lord's  sepulchre,  nor  for  those  of 
the  saints,  and  condemn  the  burying  in  churches,  which 
they  found  on  Matth.  xxiii.  29.  "  Wo  unto  you  scribes 
and  pharisees,  because  ye  build  the  tombs,"  &:c.,  and  would 
prefer  burying  in  the  field  to  the  churchyard,  were  they 
not  afraid  of  the  church.  They  maintain  that  the  offices 
for  the  dead,  masses  for  the  deceased,  offerings,  funeral 
pomps,  last  wills,  legacies,  visiting  of  graves,  the  reading 
of  vigils,  anniversary  of  masses,  and  similar  suffrages,  are 
of  no  avail  to  departed  souls.  They  condenm  watching , 
with  the  dead  by  night,  because  of  the  folly  and  wicked- 
ness which  are  practised  on  those  occasions. 

They  hold  all  these  errors  because  they  deny  purgatory, 
saying  that  there  are  only  two  ways,  the  one  of  the  elect 
to  heaven,  the  other  of  the  damned  to  hell,  according  to 
Eccles.  xi.  3.  "  Which  way  soever  the  tree  falleth,  there  it 
must  lie."  They  contend  that  a  good  man  stands  in  no 
need  of  any  mtercessions,  and  that  they  cannot  profit  those 
that  are  wicked — That  all  sins  are  mortal,  and  none  of 
them  venial — That  once  praying  in  the  words  of  the  Lord's 
prayer  is  of  more  efficacy  than  the  ringing  of  ten  bells,  yea, 
the  mass  itself.  They  think  that  all  swearing  is  sinful, 
because  Christ  says.  Matt.  v.  34.  "  Swear  not  at  all,  but  let 
your  communication  be  yea,  yea,  and  nay,  nay."  They 
are  against  punishing  malefactors  with  death,  which  they 
found  on  Rom.  xii.  19.    "Vengeance  is  mine  ;  I  will  repay, 


34  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [ch.  a  . 

saith  tlie  Lord."* — Thus  far  the  testimony  of  this  in- 
quisitor; to  which  I  shall  now  subjoin  the  short  account 
which  the  celebrated  ^neas  Sylvius  gives  of  the  VVal- 
denses  of  Bohemia,  in  his  history  of  that  kingdom. 

They  hold,  says  he,  that  the  Pope  of  Rome  is  not  supe- 
rior to  bishops,  and  that  there  is  no  difference  (as  to  rank 
or  dignity)  among  priests — That  priesthood  itself  is  not  a 
dignity,  for  that  grace  and  virtue  only  give  the  preference 
— That  the  souls  of  the  deceased  are  either  immediately 
plunged  into  hell,  or  advanced  to  eternal  joys  [in  heaven.] 
— That  there  is  no  purgatory  fire — that  it  is  a  vain  thing  to 
pray  for  the  dead,  and  merely  an  invention  of  priestly  co- 
vetousness — That  the  images  of  God  and  of  the  saints 
ought  to  be  destroyed — That  the  blessing  of  water  and 
palm  branches  is  ridiculous — That  the  religion  of  the 
Mendicants  [begging  Friars]  was  invented  by  evil  spirits — 
That  priests  ought  to  be  poor,  and  content  themselves  with 
alms — That  every  one  has  liberty  to  preach  [or  instruct] 
— No  capital  sin  ought  to  be  tolerated  under  pretence  of 
avoiding  a  greater  evil — That  he  who  is  guilty  of  mortal 
sin,  ought  not  to  enjoy  any  ecclesiastital  dignity — That  the 
confirmation  which  is  celebrated  with  anointing  and  extreme 
unction,  is  none  of  the  sacraments  of  the  church  of  Christ 
— That  auricular  confession  is  a  piece  of  foppery — that 
every  one  ought,  in  his  closet,  to  confess  his  sins  to  God — 
That  baptism  ought  to  be  administered  without  the  addi- 
tion of  holy  oil — That  the  use  of  churchyards  is  vain, 
and  nothing  but  a  covetous  invention,  and  that  it  signifies 
nothing  in  what  ground  the  bodies  of  the  dead  are  laid — 
That  the  temple  of  the  great  God  is  the  universe,  and  that 
to  build  churches,  monasteries,  and  oratories  to  him,  under 
the  supposition  that  the  divine  goodness  could  be  more 
favourably  found  in  them  than  in  other  places,  is  a  limiting 
the  divine  majesty — That  the  priestly  vestments,  altar,  orna- 


*  Hist.  Script.  Bohem.  p.  222.  et  seq.  in  Dr.  Allix's  Remarks,  p. 
211—219. 


SECT.  II.]     Seisselius's  account  of  the  Waldtnses.  35 

ments,  palls,  corporals,  chalices,  patins,  and  other  vessels, 
are  of  no  efficacy — That  it  is  vain  to  implore  the  suffrages 
of  the  saints  reigning  with  Christ  in  heaven,  because  they 
cannot  help  us — That  it  is  to  no  purpose  to  spend  one's  tim<* 
in  singing  and  saying  the  canonical  hours — That  we  are 
to  cease  from  working  on  no  day  except  the  Lord's  day — 
That  the  holy-days  of  saints  are  to  be  rejected,  and  that 
there  is  no  merit  in  observing  the  fasts  instituted  by  the 
church.* 

Claudius  Seisselius,  was  ai'chbishop  of  Turin,  to- 
wards the  close  of  the  fifteenth  century,  a  little  before  the 
time  of  the  reformation,  and  wrote  a  treatise  against  the 
Waldenses.  His  residence  in  the  very  heart  of  the  valleys 
of  Piedmont  must  have  furnished  him  with  the  best  oppor- 
tunities of  becoming  acquainted  with  the  principles  and 
practices  of  his  nonconformist  neighbours,  and  he  ha» 
transmitted  to  posterity  a  narrative  sufficiently  circumstan- 
tial and  explicit  to  enable  any  impartial  person  to  form  a 
tolerably  correct  judgment  of  them.  His  testimony  is, 
therefore,  of  too  much  importance  to  be  omitted  j  but  I 
must  entreat  the  reader  to  bear  in  mind  that  it  is  the  tes- , 
timony  of  an  adversary,  whose  papal  zeal  he  will  perceive 
to  blaze  forth  against  them  occasionally  with  no  httle  fury. 
Alluding  to  the  churches  of  the  Waldenses  in  Piedmont,  and 
those  scattered  throughout  the  diocess  of  Italy,  he  tells  us, 
that  the  most  cruel  persecutions  had  not  been  able  to  ex- 
tirpate them,  or  hinder  them  from  a  constant  defence  of 
that  doctrine  which  they  had  received  from  their  ancestors. 

"All  sorts  of  people,"  says  he,  "have  repeatedly  en- 
deavoured, but  in  vain,  to  root  them  out;  for  even  yet, 
contrary  to  the  opinion  of  all  men,  tiiey  still  remain  con- 
querors, or  at  least  wholly  invincible."  He  then  proceeds 
thus  to  describe  them.  "  The  Pope  of  Rome,  and  the  rest 
of  the  prelates  and  priests  of  that  church,"  these  Waldenses 
affirm,  "neither  follow  the  life  nor  the  precepts  of  Christ, 

*  Hist.  Bohem.  p.  141.  vbi  supra. 


36  History  of  the  Christian  Church.         [ch.  v. 

but  do  quite  the  contrary ;  and  that  not  only  in  secret 
but  so  openly  and  manifestly  that  it  can  no  longer  be  dis- 
guised, because  they  chiefly  value  themselves  on  things  that 
are  contrary  to  religion,  and  not  only  contemn  but  even 
mock  at  the  precepts  of  the  Apostles.  The  latter  lived  in 
great  poverty,  humility,  chastity,  continence  as  to  carnal 
things,  and  contempt  of  the  world ;  whereas  we  prelates 
and  priests  live  in  great  pomp,  luxuriousness,  and  disso- 
luteness. We  think  it  a  brave  thing  to  excel  in  royal 
power  rather  than  in  sacerdotal  sanctity;  and  all  our  en- 
deavours and  studies  tend  only  to  the  acquisition  of  glory 
amongst  men,  not  by  means  of  virtue,  holiness,  and  learn- 
ing, but  by  the  abundance  of  all  [temporal]  things;  by 
arms  and  warlike  magnificence,  and  by  vast  expense  in 
equipage,  furniture  of  horses,  gold,  and  other  things  of 
that  nature.  The  Apostles  would  not  possess  any  thing 
as  their  own,  neither  would  they  receive  any  into  their  so- 
ciety who  had  not  forsaken  all  and  laid  it  in  common: 
whereas  we,  not  contented  with  what  we  already  possess, 
fish  for  other  people's  goods  more  greedily  and  impudently 
than  heathen  themselves.  Hence  it  is  that  we  make  wars, 
and  incite  Christian  princes  and  people  to  take  up  arms. 
The  apostles  travelling  through  towns  and  villages,  and 
sowing  the  word  of  God  with  power,  exercised  many  other 
offices  of  charity,  according  to  the  several  gifts  they  had 
received;  whereas  we,  not  only  do  nothing  like  this,  and 
give  no  good  examples  of  holy  conversation,  but  on  the 
contrary  frequently  resist  and  oppose  those  that  do,  thus 
opening  the  way  to  all  manner  of  dissoluteness  and  avarice. 
They,  as  it  were,  against  their  wills  and  with  reluctance, 
by  the  divine  command  or  inspiration  of  God,  received 
ordination  to  promote  the  salvation  of  others:  whereas  we 
buy  benefices  and  preferments  for  mone}^,  or  procure  them 
by  force,  or  through  the  favour  of  princes  and  other  indi- 
rect means,  merely  to  satiate  our  lusts,  to  enrich  our  rela- 
tions, and  for  the  sake  of  worldly  glory.  Moreover,  they 
spent  their  lives  in  manifold  fastings,  watchings,  and  labours,, 


SECT.  II.]    Seisselius^s  account  of  the  Waldenses.  37 

terrified  neitlier  by  trouble  nor  danger,  that  they  might 
show  to  others  the  way  of  salvation :  whereas  we  pass  our 
time  in  idleness,  in  pleasures,  and  other  earthly  or  wicked 
things.  They,  despising  gold  and  silver,  as  they  had  freely 
received  the  divine  grace,  so  they  freely  dispensed  it  to 
others :  whereas  we  set  all  holy  things  to  sale,  and  barter 
with  the  heavenly  treasures  of  God  himself,  and,  in  a  word, 
confound  all  things  both  divine  and  human.  So  that  the 
church  of  Rome  cannot  be  said  to  be  the  spouse  of  Christ, 
but  that  common  prostitute  described  by  Isaiah,  Jeremiah, 
Ezekiel,  and  St.  John  in  the  Revelation,  in  such  lively 
colours.  For  Christ  hath  joined  his  church  to  him  to  be 
his  bride,  holy,  pure,  fair,  adorned  with  the  ornaments  and 
jewels  of  every  virtue,  without  spot  or  wrinkle,  such  as  the 
Holy  Spirit  figuratively  describes  her  in  the  Canticles. 
Far  be  it,  therefore,  that  Christ  should  ever  think  of  chang- 
ing this  his  beautiful  and  lovely  bride  for  such  a  stinking, 
loathsome  harlot." 

Further,  Seisselius  thus  proceeds.  "We  do  not  deny, 
say  the  Waldenses,  that  God  alone  is  the  searcher  of  hearts, 
for,  as  the  Scriptures  saith,  '  He  searcheth  the  heart  and 
trieth  the  reins;'  and  therefore  that  he  alone  knows  whether 
the  works  of  men  are  pleasing  unto  him,  and  obtain  his 
favour,  which  others  can  only  know  by  conjecture.  But 
he  himself  hath  taught  us  how  to  form  our  judgment  when 
he  saith,  'Ye  shall  know  them  by  their  fruits;  for  an  evil 
tree  cannot  bring  forth  good  fruit,  nor  a  good  tree  evil 
fruit.'  Hence  though  it  be  a  difficult  thing  to  judge  of 
good  works,  because  they  receive  their  value  from  the  in- 
tention of  the  doer,  yet  wicked  works  discover  themselves, 
and  the  intention  cannot  make  them  good,  especially  when 
they  are  open,  barefaced,  and  obviously  repugnant  to  the 
law  of  God.  Therefore,  if  we  see  the  bishops  and  priests 
every  day  living  in  dissoluteness  and  luxury,  robbing  others 
of  their  goods,  smiting  their  neighbours,  persecuting  those 
that  are  good,  blaspheming  the  name  of  God,  prodigally 
wasting  the  patrimony  of  the  church  in  voluptuousness  and 

Vol.  II.  G 


o8  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [ch.  v. 

damnable  crimes,  may  we  not  undoubtedly  affirm,  that  they 
who  commit  these  things  are  not  the  ministers  of  God,  but 
his  public  and  avowed  enemies?  Surely  such  they  are, 
though  we  should  suppose  them  created  or  confirmed  by 
au  universal  synod  of  Christians,  or  by  the  Pope,  or  by 
Peter  himself.  But  how  much  more  may  we  conclude 
them  such,  when  those  that  ordain  tliem  are  worse  than 
themselves,  and  their  works  obviously  worse  than  theirs? 
What  shall  we  say,  if  it  appear  that  they  have  publicly  and 
notoriously  bought  the  papacy — that  they  openly  set  to 
sale  sacerdotal  functions,  and  that  they  set  over  the  churches, 
not  by  mistake  but  out  of  malice,  those  who  are  known  to 
be  wholly  unworthy  of  that  charge,  and  who  never  in  all 
their  lifetime  did  any  thing  worthy  either  of  a  priest,  or 
even  of  a  Christian  ?  Shall  we  obey  such  priests  and  pre- 
lates, who  lead  us  the  way  to  salvation  neither  by  word  nor 
work,  but  rather  endeavour  all  they  can  to  drag  us  into 
the  same  pit  of  destruction  as  themselves?  Doth  not  our 
Saviour  tell  us  that  we  must  not  suffer  ourselves  to  be  led 
by  blind  guides,  lest  when  one  blind  man  leads  another 
they  both  fall  into  the  ditch  ?  Hath  he  not  declared  that 
such  as  these  are  cut  off  from  the  life  of  the  church  and 
the  body  of  Christ,  and  destined  to  the  fire  ?  How  can  he 
be  the  vicegerent  of  Christ,  who  is  not  so  much  as  a  Chris- 
tian, or  a  member  of  the  mystical  body  of  Christ,  but  whom 
he  commands  us  to  avoid  as  a  heathen  and  publican,  so 
long  as  he  continues  incorrigible. 

"The  apostolic  authority,  the  failh  of  Peter,  which  Christ 
said  should  not  fail  the  Catholic  church,  and  with  which 
church  he  promiseth  to  abide  for  ever,  is  to  be  found 
amongst  us  who  walk  after  the  example  of  the  apostles, 
and  according  to  our  weak  measure,  observe  the  commands 
and  ordinances  they  have  given  us.  We  are  those  of 
whom  the  apostle  Paul  speaks  in  his  Epistle  to  the  Corin- 
thians, '  Brethren,  consider  your  calling,  that  ye  are  not 
many  wise  men  after  the  flesh,  not  many  mighty,  not  many 
noble ;  but  God  hath  chosen  the  foolish  things  of  this  world 


SECT.  II.]  Seisseliiis^s  account  of  the  Waldenses.  39 

to  confound  the  wise;  and  tlie  weak  things  of  this  world 
to  confound  the  tilings  that  are  mighty ;  and  the  base  things 
of  this  world,  and  tilings  that  are  despised,  yea  and  the 
things  that  are  not,  to  bring  to  nought  the  things  that  are.' 
And  die  same  apostle  tells  us,  that  he  was  sent  to  preacli 
the  gospel,  not  in  the  mightiness  of  man's  wisdom,  but  in 
plainness  and  simplicity;  alleging  to  this  purpose  what  the 
Lord  saith  elsewhere,  '  I  will  destroy  the  wisdom  of  the 
wise,  and  will  bring  to  nought  the  prudence  of  the  prudent.' " 

Such  is  the  description  given  us,  by  the  archbishop  of 
Turin,  of  the  Waldenses  of  Piedmont,  before  Luther  was 
born,  or  Calvin  thought  of,  or  the  term  Reformation  even 
mentioned.  And  yet  the  Catholics  have  had  the  eflrontery 
to  ask  us,  "  Where  wasyour  religion  before  Luther.'"'  But 
let  us  further  attend  to  the  account  which  he  gives  us  of 
the  articles  of  their  faith.  On  this  particular  he  thus 
writes. 

"  They  receive  only  what  is  written  In  tlie  Old  and  New 
Testaments.  They  say  that  the  Popes  of  Rome  and  other 
priests  have  corrupted  the  Scriptures  by  their  doctrines  and 
glosses — that  they  owe  neither  tythes  nor  first-fruits  to  the  - 
clergy — that  the  consecration  of  churches,  indulgences,  and 
similar  benedictions,  are  the  inventions  of  false  priests. 
They  do  not  celebrate  the  festivals  of  the  saints.  They  say 
that  men  do  not  stand  in  need  of  the  suffrages  of  the  saints, 
Christ  abundantly  sufficing  in  all  things.  They  affirm  that 
marriage  may  be  contracted  in  any  degree,  excepting  only 
one  or  two  at  the  most ;  as  if  the  Popes  had  no  power  to  pro- 
hibit marriage  in  any  other  degrees  !  They  say  that  what- 
ever is  done  to  deliver  the  souls  of  the  dead  from  the  p;ain5 
of  purgatory  is  useless,  lost,  and  superstitiousT--that  our 
priests  have  not  the  power  of  forgiving  sins.  They  soy 
that  they  alone  observe  the  evangelic  and  apostolic  doc- 
trine, on  whicli  account,  hy  an  intolerable  impudence^  they 
usurp  the  name  of  tiic  Catholic  Church  !  Their  barbs 
[pastors]  do  greatly  err"  saith  Seisselius,  "  because  they 
are  neither  sent  of  God,  nor  by  the  pastors  of  the  [Catholic] 


40  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [ch.  v. 

church,  but  of  the  devil,  as  appears  from  their  damnable 
doctrines.  They  say  that  the  authority  of  hearing  confes- 
sions belongs  to  all  Christians  that  walk  according  to  the 
apostolic  precepts,  (which  their  barbs  attribute  to  them- 
selves) because  the  apostle  James  saith,  '  Confess  your 
faults  one  to  another.'  They  say  that  we  ought  not  to 
have  any  kind  of  [set  form  of]  prayer,  except  it  appear 
that  it  was  composed  by  some  certain  [inspired]  author, 
and  approved  of  God.  Their  barbs  have  often  preached 
this  doctrine  to  abolish  the  service  of  the  glorious  Virgin 
and  other  saints.  They  do  not  think  that  Christians  ought 
to  say  the  angelical  salutation  to  the  mother  of  God,  alleg- 
ing that  it  has  not  the  form  of  a  prayer,  but  a  salutation  : 
but  that  they  do  only  that  they  may  rob  the  Virgin  of  this 
service,  saying,  that  it  is  not  lawful  to  worship  or  serve  her 
any  more  than  the  rest  of  the  saints.  They  affirm,  that  the 
blessings  of  the  priests  are  of  no  virtue  at  all.  Did  not 
Christ  bless  the  bread  in  the  desert  ?  When  the  apostles 
sat  down  to  eat  bread,  they  blessed  what  was  set  upon  the 
table.  They  say  there  is  no  need  of  holy  water  in  the 
churches,  because  neither  Christ  nor  his  apostles  either 
made  it  or  commanded  it :  as  if  we  ought  to  say  or  do 
nothing  but  what  we  read  was  done  by  them.  They  say, 
that  the  indulgences  allowed  of  by  the  church  are  despica- 
ble, useless  things — that  the  souls  of  the  dead,  without  be- 
ing tried  by  any  purgation,  immediately  on  their  parting 
from  the  body  enter  into  happiness  or  misery ;  and  that  the 
clergy,  blinded  by  their  covetousness,  have  invented  pur- 
gatory. They  say  that  the  saints  cannot  take  notice  of 
what  is  done  here  below.  They  detest  and  abhor  all 
images,  and  the  sign  of  the  cross,  much  more  than  we 
honour  them.  They  make  no  distinction  between  the  wor- 
ship of  Latria,  which  is  due  to  God  only,  and  that  of 
Dulia,  which  belongs  to  the  saints.  As  to  the  fasts  which 
the  Catholic  church  have  instituted  for  the  honour  of  God 
and  the  saints,  they  have  yet  less  reason  to  object  these  to 
us.     They  affirm  that  a  lie  is  always  a  mortal  sin,  because 


SECT.  III.]  Doctnnal  Sentiments,  ^c,  of  the  Waldenses.    41 

David  says,  'God  shall  destroy  all  liars.'"  And  as  to 
transubstantiation  he  tells  us,  "  That  the  Waldenses  made  a 
mock  of  all  the  artifices  which  the  Catholics  had  recourse 
to  with  the  view  of  making  it  appear  to  them  more  plausi- 
ble." Upon  this  part  of  their  conduct,  the  reflections  of 
the  learned  archbishop  are  sufficiently  pertinent  to  be  here 
introduced.  "  I  think,"  saith  he,  "  that  those  took  pains  to 
little  purpose,  who  when  writing-  against  this  sect,  made  it 
their  chief  business  to  insist  upon  the  difficulties  about  the 
sacrament  of  the  eucharist,  and  who  in  order  to  clear  them, 
have  spoken  so  sharply  and  subtilely,  not  to  say  confusedly, 
that  I  have  great  reason  to  doubt  whether  they  ever  un- 
derstood the  things  themselves.  Yet  I  will  not  say  that  be- 
cause I  do  not  myself  comprehend  it,  [for  that  I  ingenuously 
confess)  I  think  it  also  to  surpass  the  capacity  of  others, 
but  because  it  has  always  appeared  to  me  to  be  a  point  of 
that  difficulty,  that  the  ablest  have  been  ready  to  own  that 
the  strength  of  human  understanding  must  in  this  case  be 
subject  to  faith." 


SSCTXON'  HI. 

Ji  view  of  the  Doctrinal  Sentiments  and  Religious  Practices 
of  the   Waldenses,  collected  from  their  own  tvritings. 

Having  in  the  former  section  laid  before  the  reader  the 
sentiments  imputed  to  the  Waldenses  by  four  of  their  avow- 
ed adversaries,  there  can  be  no  reasonable  objection  to  our 
now  permitting  them  to  make  their  own  apology.  Their 
historian,  John  Paul  Perrin,  in  his  "Histoire  des  Vaudois," 
published  at  Geneva  in  1619,  has  furnished  us  with  two  of 
their  "  Confessions  of  faith,"  of  which  the  following  are 
faithful  translations.  Sir  Samuel  Morland  has  fixed  the 
date  of  the  first  of  them  in  the  year  1120.* 

*  Morlaotl's  History  of  Ihn  Chnrrhes  of  Pierfmont,  p.  30. 


42      ;  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [ch.  v. 

THE  CONFESSION  OF  FAITH  OF  THE  WALDENSES. 

1.  We  believe  and  firmly  maintain  all  that  is  contained 
in  the  twelve  articles  of  the  symbol,  commonly  called  the 
apostles'  creed,  and  we  regard  as  heretical  whatever  is  in- 
consistent with  the  said  twelve  articles. 

2.  We  believe  that  there  is  one  God, — Father,  Son,  and 
Holy  Spirit. 

3.  We  acknowledge  for  sacred  canonical  scriptures  the 
books  of  the  Holy  Bible.  (Here  follows  the  title  of  each, 
exactly  conformable  to  our  received  canon,  but  which  it 
is  deemed,  on  that  account,  quite  unnecessary  to  particu- 
larize.) 

4.  The  books  above  mentioned  teach  us — That  there  is 
ONE  God,  almight}',  unbounded  in  wisdom,  and  infinite  in 
goodness,  and  who,  in  his  goodness,  has  made  all  things. 
For  he  created  Adam  after  his  own  image  and  likeness. 
But  through  the  enmity  of  the  devil  and  his  own  disobe- 
dience, Adam  fell,  sin  entered  into  the  world,  and  we  be- 
came transgi'cssors  in  and  by  Adam. 

5.  That  Christ  had  been  promised  to  the  fathers  who 
received  the  \<v,v,  to  the  end  that,  knowing  their  sin  by  the 
law,  and  their  unrighteousness,  and  insufiiciency,  they  might 
desire  tlie  coming  of  Christ  to  make  satisfaction  for  their 
sins,  and  to  accomplish  the  law  by  himself. 

G.  That  at  the  time  appointed  of  the  Father,  Christ  was 
jjorn — a  time  when  iniquity  every  where  abounded,  to  make 
it  manifest  diat  it  was  not  for  the  sake  of  any  good  in  our- 
selves, for  all  were  sinners,  but  tliat  He,  who  is  true,  might 
display  his  grace  and  mercy  toward  us. 

7.  That  Christ  is  our  life,  and  trud),  and  peace,  and 
righteousness — our  shepherd  and  advocate,  our  sacrifice 
and  priest,  who  died  for  the  salvation  of  all  who  should  be- 
lieve, and  rose  again  for  our  justification. 

8.  And  we  also  firmly  believe,  that  there  is  no  other  me- 
diator, or  advocate  with  God  the  Father,  but  Jesus  Christ. 
And  as  to  the  Virgin  IMary,  she  was  holy,  humble,  and  full 


;jECT.  III.]      Waldensian  Confession  of  Faith.  4i3 

of  grace ;  and  this  we  also  believe  concerning  all  other 
saints,  namely,  that  they  are  waiting  in  heaven  for  the  re- 
surrection of  their  bodies  at  the  day  of  judgment. 

9.  We  also  believe,  that,  after  this  life,  there  are  but  two 
places — one  for  those  that  are  saved,  the  other  for  the 
damned,  which  [two]  we  call  paradise  and  hell,  wholly  de- 
nying that  imaginary  purgatory  of  Antichrist,  invented  in 
opposition  to  the  truth. 

10.  JMoreover,  we  have  ever  regarded  all  the  inventions 
of  men  (in  the  affairs  of  religion)  as  an  unspeakable  abomi- 
nation before  God ;  such  as  the  festival  days  and  vigils  of 
saints,  and  what  is  called  holy  water,  the  abstaining  from 
flesh  on  certain  days,  and  such  like  things,  but  above  all, 
the  masses. 

11.  We  hold  in  abhorrence  all  human  inventions  as 
proceeding  from  Antichrist,  which  produce  distress,*  and 
are  prejudicial  to  the  libertj'  of  the  mind. 

12.  We  consider  the  Sacraments  as  signs  of  holy  things, 
or  as  the  visible  emblems  of  invisible  blessings.  We  re- 
gard it  as  proper  and  even  necessary  that  believers  use 
these  symbols  or  visible  forms  when  it  can  be  done.  Not- 
withstanding which,  we  maintain  that  behevers  may  be 
saved  without  these  signs,  when  they  have  neither  place  nor 
opportunity  of  observing  them. 

13.  We  acknowledge  no  sacraments  (as  of  divine  ap- 
pointment) but  baptism  and  the  Lord's  supper. 

14.  We  honour  the  secular  powers,  with  subjection,  obe- 
dience, promptitude,  and  payment,  f 


SECOND  CONFESSION. 

The  Centuriators  of  Magdeburgh  in  their  History  of  the 
Christian  church,  under  the  twelfth  century,  recite  from  an 

*  Alluding  probably  to  the  voluntaiy  penances  and  mortification  im- 
posed by  the  Catholics  on  themselves. 
t  Perrin's  Hist,  dcs  Vaudois,  ch.  xii. 


44-  History  of  the  Christian  Church.         [ch.  v. 

old  manuscript  the  following  epitome  of  the  opinions  of  the 
Waldenses  of  that  age. 

In  articles  of  faith  the  authority  of  the  Holy  Scripture  is 
the  highest ;  and  for  that  reason  it  is  tlie  standard  of  judg- 
ing ;  so  that  whatsoever  doth  not  agree  with  the  word  of 
God,  is  deservedly  to  be  rejected  and  avoided. 

The  decrees  of  Fathers  and  Councils  are  (only)  so  far  to 
be  approved  as  they  agree  with  the  word  of  God. 

The  reading  and  knowledge  of  the  Holy  Scriptures  is 
open  to,  and  is  necessary  for  all  men,  the  laity  as  well 
as  the  clergy ;  and  moreover  the  writings  of  the  prophets 
and  apostles  arc  to  be  read  rather  than  the  comments  of 
men. 

The  sacraments  of  the  church  of  Christ  are  two,  bap- 
tism and  the  Lord's  supper  :  and  in  the  latter,  Christ  has 
instituted  the  receiving  in  both  kinds,  both  for  priests  and 
people. 

Masses  are  impious ;  and  it  is  madness  to  say  masses 
for  the  dead. 

Purgatory  is  the  invention  of  men  ;  for  they  who  believe 
go  into  eternal  life ;  they  who  believe  not  into  eternal  dam- 
nation. 

The  invoking  and  worshipping  of  dead  saints  is  idolatry. 

The  church  of  Rome  is  the  whore  of  Babylon. 

We  must  not  obey  the  Pope  and  bishops,  because  they 
are  the  wolves  of  the  church  of  Christ. 

The  pope  hath  not  the  primacy  over  all  the  churches  of 
Christ ;  neither  hath  he  the  power  of  both  swords. 

That  is  the  church  of  Christ,  which  hears  the  pure  doc- 
trine of  Christ,  and  observes  the  ordinances  instituted  by 
him,  in  whatsoever  place  it  exist. 

Vows  of  celibacy  are  the  inventions  of  men,  and  produc- 
tive of  uncleanncss. 

So  many  orders  [of  the  clergy]  so  many  marks  of  the 
beast. 

Monkery  is  a  filthy  carcass. 


SECT.  III.]      Walclensian  Confession  of  Faith,  45 

So  many  superstitious  dedications  of  churclies,  comme- 
morations of  the  dead,  benedictions  of  creatures,  pilgrim- 
ages, so  many  forced  fastings,  so  many  superfluous  festivals, 
those  perpetual  bellowings,  [alluding  to  the  practice  of 
chanting]  and  the  observations  of  various  other  ceremo- 
nies, manifestly  obstructing  the  teaching  and  learning  of 
the  word,  are  diabolical  inventions. 

The  marriage  of  priests  is  both,  lawful  and  necessary. 


About  the  time  of  the  Reformation,  the  Waldenses  who 
resided  in  the  south  of  France,  and  who  of  course  were 
subjects  of  the  French  king,  were  persecuted  with  the  most 
sanguinary  severity,  particularly  those  resident  in  the  coun- 
try of  Provence.  In  the  year  1 540,  the  parliament  of  Aix, 
the  chief  judicature  of  the  province,  passed  a  law  that 
"  they  should  all  of  them  promiscuously  be  destroyed,  that 
their  houses  should  be  pulled  down,  the  town  of  Merindole 
be  levelled  with  the  ground,  all  the  trees  cut  down,  and  the 
country  adjacent  converted  into  a  desert.  Voltaire,  speak- 
ing of  this  cruel  decree,  says,  "  The  Waldenses,  terrified  at 
this  sentence,  sent  a  deputation  to  cardinal  Sadoletus, 
bishop  of  Carpentras,  who  at  that  time  was  in  his  diocess. 
This  illustrious  scholar,  this  true  philosopher,  this  humane 
and  compassionate  prelate,  received  them  with  great  good- 
ness, and  interceded  in  their  behalf,  and  the  execution  of 
the  sentence  was  for  a  time  suspended."*  The  sentence, 
nevertheless,  was  executed  in  all  its  rigour  five  years  after- 
wards, as  will  be  related  in  a  future  section.  In  the  preced- 
hig  year,  however,  (1544,)  as  we  are  informed  by  Sleidan, 
in  his  history  of  the  Reformation,  p.  347,  the  Waldenses,  to 
remove  the  prejudices  that  were  entertained  against  them, 
and  to  manifest  their  innocence,  transmitted  to  the  king,  in 
writing,  the  following  Confession  of  their  Faith. 

*  Voltaire's  CJniv.  Hist.  ch.  cxvi. 
Vol.  11.  H 


46  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [cH.  v. 

THIRD  CONFESSION. 

1 .  We  believe  that  there  is  but  one  God,  who  is  a  Spirit 
— the  Creator  of  all  things — the  Father  of  all,  who  is  above 
all,  and  through  all,  and  in  us  all ;  who  is  to  be  worshipped 
in  spirit  and  in  truth — upon  whom  we  are  continually  depen- 
dant, and  to  whom  we  ascribe  praise  for  our  life,  food,  rai- 
ment, health,  sickness,  prosperity,  and  adversity.  We  love 
him  as  the  source  of  all  goodness  ;  and  reverence  him  as 
that  sublime  being,  who  searcheth  the  reins  and  trieth  the 
hearts  of  the  children  of  men. 

2.  We  believe  that  Jesus  Christ  is  the  Son  and  image  of 
the  Father — that  in  Him  all  the  fulness  of  the  Godhead 
dwells,  and  that  by  Him  alone  we  know  the  Father.  He 
is  our  Mediator  and  Advocate  ;  nor  is  there  any  other  name 
given  under  heaven  by  which  we  can  be  saved.  In  his 
name  alone  we  call  upon  the  Father,  using  no  other  prayers 
than  those  contained  in  the  Holy  Scriptures,  or  such  as  are 
in  substance  agreeable  thereunto. 

3.  We  believe  in  the  Holy  Spirit  as  the  Comforter,  pro- 
ceeding from  the  Father,  and  from  the  Son;  by  whose 
inspiration  we  are  taught  to  pray;  being  by  him  renewed 
in  the  spirit  of  our  minds ;  who  creates  us  anew  unto  good 
works,  and  from  whom  we  receive  the  knowledge  of  the 
truth. 

4.  We  believe  that  there  is  one  holy  church,  comprising 
the  whole  assembly  of  the  elect  and  faithful,  that  have 
existed  from  the  beginning  of  the  world,  or  that  shall  be 
to  the  end  thereof  Of  this  church  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
is  the  head — it  is  governed  by  his  word  and  guided  by  the 
Holy  Spirit.  In  the  church  it  behooves  all  Christians  to 
have  fellowship.  For  her  he  [Christ]  prays  incessantly, 
and  his  prayer  for  it  is  most  acceptable  to  God,  without 
which  indeed  there  could  be  no  salvation. 

5.  We  hold  that  the  ministers  of  the  church  ought  to 
be  unblameable  both  in  life  and  doctrine;  and  if  found 
otherwise,  that  they  ougiit  to  be  deposed  from  their  office, 


SECT.  III.]       Waldensian  confession  of  Faith.  47 

and  others  substituted  in  their  stead;  and  tliat  no  person 
ought  to  presume  to  take  that  honour  unto  himself,  but  lie 
who  is  called  of  God  as  was  Aaron — that  the  duties  of  such 
are  to  feed  the  flock  of  God,  not  lor  filthy  lucre's  sake,  or 
as  having  dominion  over  God's  heritage,  but  as  being 
examples  to  the  flock,  in  word,  in  conversation,  in  charity, 
in  faith,  and  in  chastity. 

6.  We  acknowledge  that  kings,  princes,  and  governors, 
are  the  appointed  and  established  ministers  of  God,  whom 
we  are  bound  to  obey  [in  all  lawful  and  civil  concerns.] 
For  they  bear  the  sword  for  the  defence  of  the  innocent, 
and  the  punishment  of  evil  doers ;  for  which  reason  we  are 
bound  to  honour  and  pay  them  tribute.  From  this  power 
and  authority,  no  man  can  exempt  himself,  as  is  manifest 
from  the  example  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who  voluntarily 
paid  tribute,  not  taking  upon  himself  any  jurisdiction  of 
temporal  power. 

7.  We  believe  that  in  the  ordinance  of  baptism  the 
water  is  the  visible  and  external  sign,  which  represents  to 
us  that  which  by  virtue  of  God's  invisible  operation,  is 
within  us — namely,  the  renovation  of  our  minds,  and  tlie 
mortification  of  our  members  through  [the  faith  of]  Jesus 
Christ.  And  by  this  ordinance,  we  are  received  into  the 
holy  congregation  of  God's  people,  previously  professing 
and  declaring  our  faith  and  change  of  life. 

8.  We  hold  that  the  Lord's  supper  is  a  commemoration 
of,  and  thanksgiving  for,  the  benefits  which  we  have  re- 
ceived by  his  sufl'erings  and  death — and  that  it  is  to  be 
received  in  faith  and  love — examining  ourselves,  that  so 
we  may  eat  of  that  bread  and  drink  ol"  that  cup,  as  it  is 
written  in  the  Holy  Scriptures. 

9.  We  maintain  that  marriage  was  instituted  of  God — 
that  it  is  holy  and  honourable,  and  ought  to  be  forbidden 
to  none,  provided  there  be  no  obstacle  from  the  divine 
word. 

10.  We  contend  that  all  those  in  whom  the  fear  of  God 
dwells,  will  thereby  be  led  to  please  him,  and  to  abound  in 


43  Hutory  of  the  Christian  Church.  [ch.  v. 

the  good  woi'ks  [of  the  gospel]  which  God  hath  before 
ordained  that  we  should  walk  in  them — which  are  love, 
joy,  peace,  patience,  kindness,  goodness,  gentleness,  sobriety, 
and  the  other  good  works  enforced  in  the  Holy  Scriptures. 

11.  On  the  other  hand,  we  confess  that  we  consider  it 
to  be  our  duty  to  beware  of  false  teachers,  whose  object  is 
to  divert  the  minds  of  men  from  the  true  worship  of  God, 
and  to  lead  them  to  place  their  confidence  in  the  creatures, 
as  well  as  to  depart  from  the  good  works  of  the  gospel,  and 
to  regard  the  inventions  of  men. 

12.  We  take  the  Old  and  the  New  Testament  for  the 
rule  of  our  life,  and  we  agree  with  the  general  confession 
of  faith  contained  in  [what  is  usually  termed]  the  apostles' 
creed.* 

Amongst  the  writings  of  the  ancient  Waldenses  that  have 
reached  our  times,  is  "  A  Treatise  concerning  Antichrist, 
Purgatory,  the  Invocation  of  Saints,  and  the  Sacraments. "f 
Their  historian,  John  Paul  Perrin,  to  whom  we  are  in- 
debted for  rescuing  it  from  oblivion,  informs  us  that  the 
original  manuscript,  in  which  are  also  many  sermons  by 
their  pastors,  bears  date  A.  D.  1120;  which  is  nearly  half 
a  century  before  the  time  of  Peter  Waldo,  and  about  the 
period  when  Peter  de  Bruys  was  executing  his  ministry  in 
France.  The  Treatise  has  indeed  been  attributed,  and  not 
without  probability,  to  the  pen  of  Peter  de  Bruys.  Per- 
rin says,  it  was  carefully  preserved  among  the  inhabitants 
of  the  Alps,  from  whence  he  procured  it.  If  we  could 
depend  with  certainty  upon  the  correctness  of  the  date  of 
this  manuscript,  it  would  be  a  very  important  document  in 
the  history  of  the  Waldensian  churches,  because  it  bears 
internal  evidence  of  having  been  written  for  the  express 

*  Perrin,  Hist,  des  Vaudois,  ch.  xiii. 

f  This  is  the  work  to  which  the  late  Bishop  Hurd  refers  us,  in  his 
"  Introductory  Sermons  on  the  Study  of  the  Prophecies,"  Vol.  II.  p. 
30.  Ser.  7.  note  (<,)  where  he  says,  "  In  this  {twelfth  century)  was  com- 
posed a  very  remarltable  tract  on  the  subject  of  Antichrist,  which 
may  be  seen  in  Mede's  Works,  p.  721." 


SECT.  111.]    fValdensian  description  of  Antichrist.  49 

purpose  of  exhibiting  a  public  declaration  of  their  reasons 
for  separating  from  the  commiuiion  of  the  church  of  Rome, 
and  consequently  it  would  throw  much  light  upon  the  ques- 
tion of  their  antiquity.  But  it  is  proper  to  apprise  the 
reader  of  one  circumstance  attending  it,  which  ought  to 
excite  a  doubt  upon  the  subject;  and  that  is,  that  the  scrip- 
tures are  quoted  in  it  as  divided  into  chapters  and  verses, 
which  we  know  was  not  done  nqtil  after  the  middle  of  the 
thirteenth  century.  If,  therefore,  the  original  was  written 
at  the  period  fixed  by  Perrin,  the  chapters  must  have  been 
added  by  a  copyist.*  The  Treatise,  nevertheless,  whenso- 
ever written,  is  very  interesting,  and  though  the  whole  of  it 
be  too  long  for  insertion,  I  shall  submit  to  the  reader  a  kw 
extracts.     Thus  it  describes  Antichrist. 

Antichrist  is  a  falsehood,  or  deceit  varnished  over  with 
the  semblance  of  truth,  and  of  the  righteousness  of  Christ 
and  his  spouse,  yet  in  opposition  to  the  way  of  truth,  righte- 
ousness, faith,  hope,  charity,  as  well  as  to  moral  life.  It 
is  not  any  particular  person  ordained  to  any  degree,  or 
office,  or  ministry,  but  it  is  a  system  of  falsehood,  opposing 
itself  to  the  truth,  covering  and  adorning  itself  with  a  show  - 
of  beauty  and  piety,  yet  very  unsuitable  to  the  church  of 
Christ,  as  by  the  names,  and  offices,  the  scriptures,  and  the 
sacraments,  and  various  other  things,  may  appear.  The 
sj'stem  of  iniquity  thus  completed  with  its  ministers,  great 
and  small,  supported  by  those  who  are  induced  to  follow  it 
with  an  evil  heart  and  blindfold — this  is  the  congregation 
which,  taken  together,  comprises  what  is  called  Antichrist, 
or  Babylon,  the  fourth  beast,  the  whore,  the  man  of  sin,  the 
son  of  perdition.  His  ministers  are  called  false  prophets, 
lying  teachers,  the  ministers  of  darkness,  the  spirit  of  error, 
the  apocalyptic  whore,  the  mother  of  harlots,  clouds  with- 

*  Mr.  Milner  has  overlooked  this  circumstance  altogether,  and 
reasons  from  this  Treatise  in  behalf  of  the  antiquity  of  those  churches, 
as  though  the  date  it  bears  was  unquestionable.  See  his  History,  Vol. 
III.  p.  477. 


50  Histortj  of  the  Christian  Church.  [ch.  v. 

out  water,  trees  without  leaves,  twice  dead,  plucked  up  by 
the  roots,  wandering  stars,  Balaamites  and  Egyptians. 

He  is  termed  Antichrist,  because  being  disguised  under 
the  names  of  Christ  and  of  his  church  and  faithful  members, 
he  oppugns  the  salvation  which  Christ  wrought  out,  and 
which  is  truly  administered  in  his  church — and  of  which 
salvation  believers  participate  by  faith,  hope,  and  charity. 
Thus  he  opposes  the  truth  by  the  wisdom  of  this  w  orld,  by 
false  religion,  by  counterfeit  holiness,  by  ecclesiastical  power, 
by  secular  tyranny,  and  by  the  riches,  honours,  dignities, 
with  the  pleasures  and  delicacies  of  this  world.  It  should, 
therefore,  be  carefully  observed,  that  Antichrist  could  not 
come,  without  a  concurrence  of  all  these  things,  making  up 
a  system  of  h}  pocrisy  and  falsehood — these  must  be,  the 
wise  of  this  world,  the  religious  orders,  the  pharisees,  minis- 
ters, and  doctors  ;  the  secular  power,  with  the  people  of  the 
w  orld,  all  mingled  together.  For  although  Antichrist  was 
conceived  in  the  times  of  the  apostles,  he  was  then  in  his 
infancy,  imperfect  and  unformed,  rude,  unshapen,  and  want- 
ing utterance.  He  then  wanted  those  hypocritical  ministers 
and  human  ordinances,  and  the  outward  show  of  religious 
orders  which  he  afterwards  obtained.  As  he  was  destitute 
of  riches  and  other  endowments  necessary  to  allure  to  him- 
self ministers  for  his  service,  and  to  enable  him  to  multiply, 
defend,  and  protect  his  adherents,  so  he  also  wanted  the 
secular  power  to  force  others  to  forsake  the  truth  and 
embrace  falsehood.  But  growing  up  in  his  members,  that 
is,  in  his  blind  and  dissembling  ministers,  and  in  worldly 
subjects,  he  at  length  arrived  at  full  maturity,  when  men, 
whose  hearts  were  set  upon  this  world,  blind  in  the  faith, 
multiplied  in  the  church,  and  by  the  union  of  church  and 
state,  got  the  power  of  both  into  their  hands. 

Christ  never  had  any  enemy  like  this ;  so  able  to  per- 
vert the  way  of  truth  into  falsehood,  insomuch  that  the 
true  church,  with  her  children,  is  trodden  under  foot.  The 
worship  that  belongs  alone  to  God  he  transfers  to  Anti- 


SECT.  III.]    Waldensian  descn^ttion  of  Antichrist.  51 

Christ  himself — to  the  creature,  male  and  female,  deceased 
— to  images,  carcasses,  and  relics.  The  sacrament  of  the 
eucharist  is  converted  into  an  object  of  adoration,  and  the 
worshipping  of  God  alone  is  prohibited.  He  robs  the  Sa- 
viour of  his  merits,  and  the  sufficiency  of  his  grace  in  justi- 
fication, regeneration,  remission  of  sins,  sanctification,  esta- 
blishment in  the  faith,  and  spiritual  nourishment ;  ascribing 
all  these  things  to  his  own  authority,  to  a  form  of  words,  to 
his  owni  works,  to  the  intercession  of  saints,  and  to  the  fire 
of  purgatory.  He  seduces  the  people  from  Christ,  draw- 
ing off  their  minds  from  seeking  those  blessings  in  him,  by 
a  lively  faith  in  God,  in  Jesus  Christ,  and  in  the  Holy  Spi- 
rit, and  teaching  his  followers  to  expect  them  by  the  will 
and  pleasure  and  works  of  Antichrist. 

He  teaches  to  baptize  children  into  the  faith,  and  attri- 
butes to  this  the  work  of  regeneration ;  thus  confounding 
the  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  regeneration  with  the  exter- 
nal rite  of  baptism,  and  on  this  foundation  bestows  orders, 
and  indeed  grounds  all  his  Christianity.  He  places  all  re- 
ligion and  holiness  on  going  to  mass,  and  has  mingled 
together  all  descriptions  of  ceremonies,  Jewish,  heathen  and 
Christian — and  by  means  thereof,  the  people  are  deprived 
of  spiritual  food,  seduced  from  the  true  religion  and  the 
commandments  of  God,  and  established  in  vain  and  pre- 
sumptuous hopes.  All  his  works  are  done  to  be  seen 
of  men,  that  he  may  glut  himself  with  insatiable  avarice ; 
and  hence  every  thing  is  set  to  sale.  He  allows  of  open 
sins,  without  ecclesiastical  censure,  and  even  the  impenitent 
are  not  excommunicated.  He  does  not  govern,  nor  does 
he  maintain  his  unity,  by  the  H0I3'  Spirit,  but  by  means  of 
the  secular  power,  making  use  of  the  same  to  eli'ect  spiritual 
matters.  He  hates,  and  persecutes,  and  searches  after,  and 
plunders,  and  destroys  the  members  of  Christ.  These  are 
some  of  the  principal  of  the  works  of  Antichrist  against  the 
truth,  but  the  whole  are  past  numbering  or  recording. 

On  the  other  hand,  he  makes  use  of  an  outward  confes- 
sion of  faith  ;  and  therein  is  verified  the  saying  of  the  apos- 


52  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [ch.  v, 

lie — "  They  profess  in  words  that  they  know  God,  but  in 
works  they  deny  him."  He  covers  his  iniquity  by  pleading 
the  length  of  his  duration,  or  succession  of  time,  and  the 
multitudes  of  his  foHowers — concerning  whom  it  is  said  in 
the  Revelation,  that  "  power  is  given  him  over  every  tribe, 
language,  and  nation,  and  all  that  dwell  on  the  earth  shall 
worship  him."  He  covers  his  iniquity  by  pleading  the  spi- 
ritual authority  of  the  apostles,  though  the  apostle  expressly 
says,  "  We  can  do  nothing  against  the  truth" — and  "  there 
is  no  power  given  us  for  destruction."  He  boasts  of  nu- 
merous miracles,  even  as  the  apostle  foretold — "  Whose 
coming  is  after  the  working  of  Satan,  with  all  miracles 
and  signs,  and  lying  wonders,  and  with  all  deceivableness  of 
unrighteousness."  He  has  an  outward  show  of  holiness, 
consisting  in  prayers,  fastings,  watchings,  and  alms-deeds, 
of  which  the  apostle  testified,  when  he  said,  "  Having  a  form 
of  godliness,  but  denying  the  power  thereof." 

Thus  it  is  that  Antichrist  covers  his  lying  wickedness  as 
with  a  cloak  or  garment,  that  he  may  not  be  rejected  as  a 
pagan  or  infidel,  and  under  which  disguise  he  can  go  on 
practising  his  villanies  boldly,  and  like  a  harlot.  But  it  is 
plain  from  both  the  Old  and  New  Testaments,  that  a  Chris- 
tian stands  bound  by  express  command  to  separate  himself 
from  Antichrist.  [Here  the  following  scriptures  are  quoted 
at  large  from  the  Old  Testament,  Isa.  lii.  11,  12.  Jer.  1.  8. 
Numb.  xvi.  21.  and  ver.  6.  Lev.  xx.  24 — 27.  Exod.  xxxiv. 
12,  15.  Lev.  XV.  31.  Ezek.  ii.  Deut.  xx.]  Now  it  is  mani- 
fest from  the  New  Testament,  John  xii.,  that  the  Lord  is 
come,  and  hath  suffered  death,  that  he  might  gather  toge- 
ther in  one  the  children  of  God ;  and  it  is  on  account  of 
this  unity  in  the  truth,  and  their  separation  from  others, 
that  it  is  said  in  Matt.  x.  "  I  come  to  separate  a  man  from 
his  father,  and  to  set  the  daughter  against  the  mother,  and 
the  daughter-in-law  against  her  mother-in-law,  and  those 
of  a  man's  own  household  shall  be  his  enemies."  Christ 
hath  enjoined  this  separation  upon  his  disciples,  when  he 
said,  "  Whosoever  doth  not  forsake  father  and  mother,  he, 


SECT.  III.]     JValdensian  description  of  Antichrist.  o.o 

cannot  be  my  disciple."  And  again,  "Beware  of  false 
prophets,  which  come  mito  you  in  sheep's  clothing." 
Again,  "  Beware  of  the  leaven  of  the  Pharisees — and  take 
heed  lest  any  man  seduce  you,  for  many  shall  come  in  my 
name  and  seduce  many."  And  in  tiie  book  of  the  Reve- 
lation he  warns  by  his  own  voice,  and  charges  his  people  to 
go  out  of  Babylon,  saying,  "  Come  out  of  her,  my  people, 
and  be  not  partakers  of  her  sins,  that  ye  receive  not  of  her 
plagues ;  for  her  sins  are  come  up  unto  heaven,  and  the 
Lord  remembereth  her  iniquity."  The  apostle  says  the 
same,  "  Have  no  fellowship  with  unbelievers,  for  what  com- 
munion hath  righteousness  with  iniquity,  or  what  agree- 
ment hath  light  with  darkness,  or  what  concord  hath  Christ 
with  the  devil,  or  what  part  hath  a  believer  with  an  infidel, 
or  the  temple  of  God  with  idols  ?  Wherefore,  come  out 
from  among  them,  and  be  ye  separate,  saith  the  Lord,  and 
touch  no  unclean  thing,  and  I  will  receive  you,  and  be  a  fa- 
ther unto  you,  and  ye  shall  be  my  sons  and  daughters,  saith 
the  Lord  Almighty." 

From  what  has  been  said,  we  may  learn  wherein  consist . 
the  perverseness  and  wickedness  of  Antichrist,  and  that  God 
commands  his  people  to  separate  from  him,  and  to  join  them- 
selves to  the  holy  citj-,  Jerusalem.  And  since  it  hath  pleased 
God  to  make  known  these  things  to  us  by  his  servants, 
believing  it  to  be  his  revealed  will,  according  to  the  Holy 
Scriptures,  and  admonished  thereto  by  the  command  of  the 
Lord,  we  do,  both  inwardly  and  outwardly,  depart  from 
Antichrist.  We  ]iold  communion,  and  maintain  unity,  one 
with  another,  freely  and  uprightly,  having  no  other  object 
or  purpose  herein,  but  purely  and  singly  to  please  the 
Lord,  and  seek  the  salvation  of  our  own  souls.  Thus,  as 
the  Lord  is  pleased  to  enable  us,  and  so  far  as  our  under- 
standings are  instructed  into  the  path  of  duty,  we  attach 
ourselves  to  the  truth  of  Christ,  and  to  his  church,  ho\v 
mean  soever  she  may  appear,  in  the  eyes  of  men.  Wej 
therefore,  have  thought  it  good  to  mako  this  declaration  of 
our  reasons  for  dcpai'ting  from  Antichrist.  a<  well  as  to 

V-L.    If,  "         T 


^'1  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [ch.  v, 

make  known  what  kind  of  fellowship  we  have,  to  the  end 
tiiat,  if  the  Lord  be  pleased  to  impart  the  knowledge  of 
the  same  truth  to  others,  those  that  receive  it  may  love 
it  together  with  us.  It  is  our  desire  also,  that  if  peradven- 
ture,  others  are  not  sufficiently  enlightened,  they  may  re- 
ceive assistance  from  this  service,  the  Lord  succeeding  it 
by  his  blessing.  On  the  other  hand,  if  any  have  received 
more  abundantly  from  him,  and  in  a  higher  measure,  we 
desire  with  all  humility  to  he  taught,  and  instructed  better, 
that  so  we  may  rectify  whatever  is  amiss. 

The  treatise  then  proceeds  to  sketch  and  succinctly  to 
confute  the  numerous  abominations  of  poper}',  and  to  show 
how  they  all  tend  to  subvert  the  faith  of  Christ,  and  de- 
t^troy  the  souls  of  men ;  but  my  limits  will  only  allow  of  a 
very  abridged  view  of  this  masterly  statement.  "  Be  it 
known,"  say  they,  "  to  all  in  general,  and  to  every  one  in 
particular,  that  these  are  the  reasons  of  our  separation,  viz. 
It  is  for  the  truth's  sake  which  we  believe — for  the  know- 
ledge which  we  have  of  the  only  true  God,  and  the  unity 
of  the  divine  essence  in  three  persons,  a  knowledge  which 
flesh  and  blood  cannot  communicate — it  is  for  the  worship 
due  to  that  only  true  God — for  the  love  we  owe  him  above 
all  things — for  the  sanctification  and  honour  which  are  duo 
to  him  supremely,  and  above  every  name — for  the  lively 
hopes  which  we  have  in  God  through  Christ — for  regenera- 
tion and  the  renewing  of  our  minds  by  faith,  hope,  and 
charity — for  the  worthiness  of  Jesus  Christ,  with  the  all- 
sufficiency  of  his  grace  and  righteousness — for  the  com- 
munion of  saints — the  remission  of  sins — a  holy  conver- 
sation— for  the  sake  of  a  faithful  adherence  to  all  the  com- 
mands in  the  faith  of  Christ — for  true  repentance — for 
final  perseverance,  and  everlasting  life." 

"  A  various  and  endless  idolatry,  in  opposition  to  the 
express  command  of  God  and  Christ,"  say  they,  ''  marks 
the  genius  of  Antichrist — divine  worship  olfered,  not  to 
the  Creator,  l)ut  to  the  creatures,  visible  and  invisible,  cor- 
poreal  and  spiriturd,  male  and  female — unto  which  rrea. 


siECT.  III.]  How  the  fValdenses  described  Antichrist         G6 

tures  they  present  the  worship  of  faith  and  hope,  works, 
prayers,  pilgrimages,  and  ahns,  oblations  and  sacrifices  of 
great  price — honouring  and  adoring  them  in  various  ways, 
by  hymns  and  songs,  speeches  and  solemnities,  and  cele- 
bration of  masses,  vespers  peculiarly  appropriated  to  them, 
with  vigils  and  feast-days,  hoping  thereby  to  obtain  that 
grace  which  is  essentially  in  God  alone,  which  is  merito- 
riously in  Christ,  and  which  is  obtained  only  b}'  faith 
through  the  Holy  Spirit. 

"Another  feature  which  characterizes  Antichrist  is  the  ex- 
cessive love  of  the  world,  whence  springs  an  endless  train 
of  sin  and  mischief  in  the  church,  as  well  in  those  that 
govern  as  in  them  that  officiate — both  of  whom  sin  widiout 
control.  With  this  is  connected  the  false  hopes  which  An- 
tichrist holds  out  of  pardon,  grace,  justification,  and  ever- 
lasting life,  as  things  not  to  be  sought  from  and  obtained 
in  Christ,  nor  in  God  through  Christ,  but  in  men,  living  or 
dead — not  by  that  true  and  living  faith  which  worketh  by 
love,  producing  repentance,  and  influencing  the  mind  to 
depart  from  evil,  and  give  itself  up  to  God." 

These  extracts  will  give  the  reader  some  notion  of  the 
manner  in  which  the  subject  is  handled  in  this  Treatise ; 
and  it  is  unnecessary  to  indulge  in  more  copious  extracts. 
The  articles  entitled,  "  The  Dream  of  Purgator}',"  and 
"  The  Invocation  of  Saints,"  are  discussed  with  equal  judg- 
ment; and  in  the  latter,  especially,  the  doctrine  of  the 
mediation  of  Jesus  Christ — the  perfection  and  all-suffi- 
ciency of  his  sacrifice  for  sin — his  office  as  high  priest, 
advocate,  and  intercessor  of  his  church,  are  most  clearly 
and  nobly  maintained,  in  opposition  to  the  papal  worship 
and  invocation  of  saints.  "  Christ  alone,"  say  they,  "  hath 
the  prerogative  of  interceding  for  his  guilty  people,  and  he 
obtains  whatsoever  he  requests  in  behalf  of  those  whom  he 
hath  reconciled  by  his  death.  He  is  the  only  and  sole  me- 
diator between  God  and  man,  the  advocate  and  intercessor 
with  the  Father  for  sinners ;  and  so  sufficient  is  he,  that 
God  the  Father  denies  nothing  to  any  one  which  he  asks  in 


uG  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [ch.  v. 

his  name.  For,  being  near  unto  God,  and  living  of  him- 
self, he  prays  to  God  continually  for  us  ;  and  "  such  a 
high  priest  became  us,  who  was  holy,  harmless,  separate 
from  sinners,  and  exalted  above  the  heavens."  Hence 
they  argue,  that  as  there  is  nothing  attainable  at  the  hand  of 
God  but  through  Jesus  the  Mediator,  how  great  is  the  folly 
of  seeking  any  other  intercessor !  He  having  made  expia- 
tion for  the  sins  of  his  people,  and  having  approached 
unto  God  for  them,  where  he  ever  lives  to  intercede.  "  No 
man  cometh  to  the  Father  but  by  him."  Hence  he  himself 
says,  "  Wliatsoever  ye  shall  ask  of  the  Father  in  my 
name,  I  will  do  it." — "  Thou,  O  Lord,  art  worthy  to  re- 
ceive the  book  and  to  unloose  the  seals  thereof,  for  thou 
wast  slain,  and  hast  redeemed  us  to  God  by  thy  blood,  out 
of  every  tribe  and  tongue,  and  hast  made  us  kings  and 
priests  unto  our  God."* 

In  the  3  ear  1508,  about  ten  years  before  Luther  began 
the  Reformation,  and  during  the  reign  of  Ladislaus,  king  of 
Hungary  and  Bohemia,  a  dreadful  persecution  broke  out 
against  that  class  of  his  subjects  who  held  the  principles 
of  the  Waldenses.  The  latter,  to  justify  themselves  from 
several  charges  erroneously  imputed  to  them  by  their  ad- 
versaries, drew  up  an  apology  addressed  to  the  king,  which 
was  still  extant  in  the  time  of  Perrin,  and  as  he  has  handed 
down  to  us  the  substance  of  it,  I  shall  here  extract  a  few 
of  the  more  interesting  particulars. 

1.  It  was  said  of  them,  by  their  adversaries,  that  a  man 
might  leave  his  wife  when  he  pleased.  On  which  they 
reply,  that  "  matrimony  is  a  bond  which  nothing  but  death 
can  dissolve,  except  the  crime  of  fornication,  as  saith  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ;"  and  also  the  apostle  Paul,  1  Cor.  vii. 
saith,  "  Let  not  the  wife  depart  from  her  husband,  nor  the 
husband  put  away  his  wife." 

2.  A  second  calumny  regards  a  community  of  goods  and 
wives  to  which  they  reply,    "  that  marriage  was  of  old 

^  ■■■  Perria's  Histoirc  dcs  Vaudois,  pari  ii.  book  v.  ch.  R  ^ 


SECT,  in.]  Apology  of  the  Wcddenses.  '  57 

ordained  by  God  in  paradise;  that  it  was  designed  as  an 
antidote  against  adultery ;  and  diat  it  is  recorded  by  the 
apostle,  when  speaking  of  this  subject,  "  Let  every  man 
have  his  own  wife,  and  every  woman  her  own  husband." 
Also,  that  "  the  husband  ought  to  love  his  wife,  as  Christ 
lovetii  the  church,"  and  that  such  as  are  married  ought  to 
live  holily  together  with  their  children  in  the  fear  of  God. 
That  as  for  goods,  every  one  hath  possessed  his  own  at  all 
times  and  in  all  places — they  never  having  had  any  such 
intercommunity  among  them,  as  tended  in  the  smallest  de- 
gree to  derogate  from  that  lawful  propriety  which  every 
one  has  by  right  to  his  own  estate." 

3.  Another  scandalous  charge  was,  that  they  worshipped 
llieir  barbs  or  pastors.  The  grossness  of  this  calumny,  in- 
deed, sufficiently  refuted  itself.  At  one  time  they  are 
represented  as  setting  aside  the  necessity  of  the  pastoral 
office  altogether,  and  making  its  peculiar  duties  common 
to  every  member — at  others  they  are  charged  with  holding 
their  pastors  in  such  estimation,  that  they  paid  them  divine 
honours.  The  Waldenses  refer,  on  this  subject,  to  their 
own  writings,  in  which  they  have  shown  that  God  alone  is 
the  object  of  worship,  and  that  they  never  intended  to  give 
that  to  any  creature.  And  that  as  to  their  pastors,  regard- 
ing them  as  those  by  whom-  they  have  heard  the  word  of 
reconciliation,  they  consider  themselves  as  bound  in  con- 
science and  duty  to  treat  them  with  kindness,  and  to  esteem 
them  in  love  for  their  work's  sake. 

4.  They  have  been  accused  of  maintaining  that  it  was  in 
no  instance  lawful  to  swear.  In  reply  to  that,  they  say 
that  "  some  oaths  are  certainly  lawful,  tending  both  to  the 
honour  of  God  and  the  edification  of  their  neighbour," 
instancing  Heb.  vi.  10,  that  "men  swear  by  a  greater 
than  themselves,  and  an  oath  made  for  confirmation  is  an 
end  of  all  strife."  They  also  allege  that  it  was  enjoined  upon 
the  people  of  Israel,  Deut.  vi.  13,  to  swear  by  the  name 
of  the  Lord — and  also  the  oath  made  betwixt  Abimelecli 
aind  Isaac,  Geu.  xxvi.  and  that  of  Jacob,  Gen.  xxxi. 


58  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [ch.  v. 

5.  Another  calumny  was,  that  they  showed  no  reverence 
to  sacred  places,  maintaining  that  it  is  not  a  more  grievous 
sin  to  burn  a  church  than  to  break  open  another  house. 
To  defenfl  themselves  against  this  charge  they  say,  "That 
neither  the  place  nor  the  pulpit  makes  a  man  holy — and 
that  those  are  greatly  deceived  who  think  the  l)ctter  of 
themselves  because  of  the  dignity  of  the  place.  For  what 
was  greater  than  paradise,  or  what  more  pure  than  heaven  i* 
Notwithstanding  which,  man  was  driven  out  of  paradise, 
because  he  sinned  there;  and  the  angels  were  expelled 
from  heaven,  that  they  might  be  an  example  to  all  succeed- 
ing ages,  teaching  us  that  it  is  neither  the  place,  nor  its 
grandeur  and  dignity,  but  innocence  of  life  that  makes 
a  man  holy." 

C.  Again,  they  were  charged  with  holding,  that  the  civil 
magistrate  ought  not  to  sentence  any  one  to  death.  To 
which  they  answer,  "that  it  is  written,  a  malefactor  shall 
not  be  suffered  to  live;  and  that  without  correction  and 
discipline,  doctrine  serves  to  no  purpose,  neither  would 
judgments  be  known  or  wickedness  punished.  That,  there- 
fore, just  anger  is  the  mother  of  discipline,  and  patience 
without  reason,  the  seed  of  vices,  encouraging  the  wicked 
to  proceed  in  their  excesses."  True  it  is,  that  they  com- 
plained of  the  conduct  of  the  magistrates  in  delivering 
them  up  to  deatli,  without  any  other  knowledge  of  them 
than  they  had  obtained  from  the  priests  and  monks  who 
pretended  to  discover  errors  in  them,  and  then  exclaiming 
against  them  for  abuses  which  they  had  introduced  into  the 
church,  condemned  them  as  heretics,  and  delivered  them 
up  to  the  secular  power.  Moreover,  they  regarded  it  as 
both  unwise  and  cruel,  on  the  part  of  the  magistrates,  to 
give  credit  to  men  so  carried  away  with  passion  as  were 
•the  priests,  and  that  they  should  put  to  death  so  many 
poor  innocent  persons  without  having  either  heard  or  ex- 
amined them. 

7.  Allied  to  tlie  foregoing  was  another  slander,  tending 
to  render  them  odious  to  kings  and  princes,  namely,  "that 


SECT.  111.]  Apology  of  the  Waldenscs.  69 

.\  layman  in  a  state  of  grace  hath  more  authority  than  a 
prince  living  in  mortal  sin."  In  reply  to  that  imputation, 
they  said,  that  every  one  ought  to  be  subject  to  those  who 
are  placed  in  authority — that  it  is  their  duty  to  obey  them, 
to  honour  them  with  double  honour,  to  be  subject  to  them 
with  allegiance,  and  promptly  paying  them  tribute,  &ic. 

8.  The  next  charge  was,  that  the  Waldcnses  aflirmed 
the  Pope  had  no  authority  over  the  kings  and  princes  of 
the  cai'th,  who  derived  their  authority  Irom  God  alone ; 
and  on  which  account  the}'  took  occasion  to  call  them 
Manichoeans.  They  replied,  "We  believe  that  the  holy 
Trinity  created  all  things,  both  visible  and  invisible,  and 
that  [Jehovah]  is  Lord  of  all  things  in  heaven,  earth,  and 
hell,  as  it  is  written,  'All  things  were  created  by  him,  and 
without  him  was  not  any  thing  made  that  was  made.'" 

9.  It  was  further  alleged  against  them,  that  they  ob- 
jected to  the  payment  of  tythes — that  priests  might  law- 
fully be  put  to  death,  or  dispossessed  of  their  tythes,  which 
any  one  might  retain  without  scruple  of  conscience.  And 
it  is  certain,  says  their  historian,  that  could  the  Waldenses 
have  appropriated  their  tythes  to  any  other  purpose  than 
the  maintenance  of  those  whom  they  regarded  as  "dumb 
dogSj"  drowsy  watchmen,  slow  bellies,  deceivers,  and  de- 
ceived, they  would  have  done  it;  but  as  they  had  not  power 
to  detain  them,  none  of  them  made  any  disturbance  about 
the  matter.  It  indeed  appears,  that  in  what  depended 
upon  their  own  voluntary  choice,  they  gave  nothing  to 
such  persons,  nor  cared  for  any  of  their  helps  after  death, 
of  which  the  priests  complained,  and  thence  took  occasion 
to  accuse  them  as  heretics.  But  let  us  hear  them  upon  the 
subject  of  revenge.  "The  Lord  knowing  that  we  should 
be  delivered  up,  said,  '  Bew  are  of  men.'  But  he  never 
teaches  or  counsels  his  elect  to  slay  any  one,  but  on  the 
contrary,  to  'love  their  enemies.'  When  the  disciple- 
said  to  him,  '  shall  we  call  for  fire  from  heaven  and  con- 
sume them?'  Christ  answered,  '  Ye  know  not  what  spirit 
ye  are  of '     Also   the  Lord  said  to  Peter.  'Put   up  thy 


CO  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [ch.  v. 

sword  into  its  place,'  &lc.  Besides,  temporal  distresses 
ought  to  be  despised  and  sustained  with  patience,  for  in 
them  nothing  happens  that  is  new.  Whilst  we  are  here, 
we  are  the  Lord's  tln-eshold,  to  be  beaten  like  corn  when 
it  is  separated  from  the  chafl\" 

10.  Claude  de  Rubis,  a  virulent  catholic  writer,  who 
compiled  the  history  of  the  city  of  Lyons,  defames  them 
by  saying,  that,  having  retired  from  tlie  city  of  Lyons,  and 
taken  refuge  among  the  Alps,  the  Waldenses,  like  the  rest 
of  the  inhabitants  of  the  valleys,  had  become  sorcerers — 
and,  indeed,  says  he,  there  are  two  things  which  commonly 
accompany  each  other,  that  is,  heresy  and  sorcery,  as  hath 
been  verified  in  tlie  cities  and  provinces  which  have  ad- 
mitted heresy  amongst  them.  To  justify  themselves  against 
this  foul  aspersion,  they  say,  "Those  act  against  the  first 
precept  of  the  decalogue,  who  believe  the  planets  can  con- 
trol the  free-will  of  man."  Such  do,  in  effect,  esteem  the 
planets  to  be  gods,  for  they  attribute  to  the  creature  that 
which  is  the  peculiar  province  of  the  Creator.  Against 
such  the  prophet  Jeremiah  saith,  "Learn  not  the  way  of 
the  heathen,  and  be  not  afraid  of  those  things  at  which 
the  heathen  are  dismayed."  Paul  also  says  to  the  Gala- 
tians,  "Ye  observe  days  and  months,  and  times,  and  years, 
I  am  afraid  of  you,  lest  I  have  bestowed  on  you  labour  in 
vain."  They  also  act  against  this  commandment  who  be- 
lieve in  sorcerers  and  diviners,  for  such  believe  the  demons 
to  be  Gods.  The  reason  is,  because  they  ask  that  of 
demons  which  God  alone  can  grant,  viz.  to  discover  things 
tliat  are  secret,  and  to  reveal  the  truth  of  things  to  come, 
which  is  forbidden  by  God.  Lev.  xix.  "Thou  shalt  not 
regard  them  that  have  familiar  spirits,  neither  seek  after 
wizards.  Bloreover,  thou  shalt  not  divine  nor  give  any  heed 
to  droaui?.  Thou  shalt  not  be  an  inchanter,  neither  take 
council  with  familiar  spirits,  or  wizards,  nor  inquire  the 
truth  among  the  dead,  for  all  these  things  are  an  abomina- 
tion to  the  Lord."  And  as  to  the  punishment  which  God, 
in  a  w'ny  of  vengeance,  indicts  upon  such,  wc  read  in  the 


SECT.  III.]  Apology  of  the  fValdenses.  61 

Book  of  Kin^s,  tliat  "Elijah  demanded  of  Ahaziah,  say- 
ing, What!  is  there  no  God  in  Israel,  that  ye  go  to  inquire 
of  Baal-zebub,  the  god  of  Ekron.f*  Now,  therefore,  thus 
saith  the  Lord,  Thou  shalt  not  come  down  from  tiiat  bed 
on  which  thou  art  gone  up,  but  shalt  surely  die."  Saul 
died,  because  he  had  prevaricated  with  the  commandment 
that  God  had  given  him :  he  kept  it  not,  neither  put  his  trust  in 
the  Lord,  but  asked  counsel  of  a.witch,  wherefore  the  Lord 
slew  him,  and  transferred  his  kingdom  to  David  the  son  of 
Jesse.  It  is  also  said,  in  the  book  of  Leviticus,  that  "  who- 
soever shall  turn  aside  to  enchanters  and  wizards,  I  will 
lay  my  hand  upon  him,  and  cut  him  off  from  the  midst  of 
his  people."  Every  one  ought  to  know  that  all  enchant- 
ment, or  conjuration,  or  charms,  or  spells,  carried  for  a 
remedy  to  men  or  beasts,  are  of  no  avail,  but  on  the  con- 
trary a  snare  and  ambush  of  the  old  adversary,  the  devil, 
through  which  he  endeavours  to  deceive  mankind. 

11.  One  more  charge  ag?>inst  them  is,  that  they  com- 
pelled their  pastors  to  follow  some  trade.  Their  answer  to 
this  is  surely  a  very  satisfactory  one.  "We  do  not  think 
it  necessary,"  say  they,  "  that  our  pastors  should  work  for  - 
bread.  They  might  be  better  qualified  to  instruct  us,  if 
we  could  maintain  them  without  their  own  labour;  but 
our  poverty  has  no  remedy."* 

The  Catholic  writers  frequently  reproached  them  with 
making  little  or  no  account  of  the  pastoral  office — affirm- 
ing that  they  made  the  duty  of  preaching  the  gospel  com- 
mon to  every  member  of  the  church,  both  male  and  female; 
and  that  they  allowed  persons  who  had  not  the  suffi'ages 
of  the  church,  to  administer  the  ordinances  of  gospel  wor- 
ship. That  this  was  an  unfounded  accusation  has  been 
very  satisfactorily  shown  by  Dr.  Allix,  whose  researches 
into  the  history  of  those  churches  entitle  him  to  the  grati- 

*  Perrin's  Hist,  des  Vaudois,  b.  i.  ch.  iv.  and  Usher  de  Chrisf. 
Eccles.  succ.  et  statu. 

Vol.  II.  K 


G2  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [ch.  v. 

tude  of  posterity.     I   subjoin  the  substance  of  his  defence 
of  them  against  this  charge. 

1.  Bernard,  abbot  of  Fonqaud,  in  his  Treatise  against 
the  sect  of  the  Waldenses,  ch.  vi.  accuses  only  some  of  them 
of  having  no  pastors ;  which  shows,  as  he  very  properly 
remarks,  that  the  body  of  that  church  had  a  fixed  ministry 
before  the  end  of  the  twelfth  century.  There  is,  therefore, 
nothing  in  this  to  support  the  charge  of  their  making  light 
of  the  pastoral  office ;  for  it  is  only  what  has  happened  to 
societies  of  Christians  in  every  age  of  the  world,  to  be  for 
a  time  without  presbyters  or  pastors,  until  the  great  Head 
of  the  Church  raises  up  among  them  persons  properly 
qualified  by  age,  experience,  and  gifts,  to  take  the  over- 
sight of  their  brethren,  to  labour  in  the  word  and  doctrine, 
and  rule  the  church  of  God.  It  is  plain  that  it  was  so 
with  the  first  churches  for  a  time.  Acts,  xiv.  23.  Titus, 
i.  5. 

2.  Reinerius  Saccho,  who  lived  about  the  year  1250, 
acknowledges  that  in  Lombardy,  where  he  himself  resided, 
they  had  their  bishops,  or  pastors  ;  "  Lombardiam  intrantes, 
visitant  episcopos  suos,^^  are  his  words,  cap.  v.  that  is, 
"when  they  come  into  Lombardy  they  visit  their  elders." 
Again,  Matthew  Parris,  (under  the  year  1243)  speaks  of 
a  bishop  of  the  Paterines  in  Cremona,  who  was  deposed 
by  them  for  fornication.  And,  further,  Pilickdorf,  a  writer 
quoted  by  Bossuet  in  his  history  of  the  Variations,  p.  223, 
savs,  ^^they  do  not  approve  of  a  layman'' s  celebrating  the  Eu- 
charist,^^ ch.  i.  which  sufficiently  proves,  says  Dr.  AUix, 
that  they  made  a  signal  difference  between  the  people  and 
their  pastors.* 

3.  Commenius,  who  published  a  Synopsis  of  the  disci- 
pline of  the  churches  of  Bohemia,  dwells  particularly  upon 
this  article  ;  and  shows  that  "  a  stated  ministry  was  ahvays 
considered  as  a  matter  of  great  importance  among  the  Wal- 

*  Dr.  Allix's  Remarks,  p.  239. 


SECT.  III.]  The  Waldenses  vindicated.  63 

densian  churches.^''  A  dreadful  persecution  broke  out 
against  the  Bohenii:ui  brethren,  in  the  days  of  Conunenius, 
which  produced  such  havoc  among  tlieni  that  he  himself 
was  "  the  only  surviving  bishop  that  escaped."  The  scat- 
tered brethren,  in  process  of  time,  elected  three  persons  as 
qualified  for  the  pastoral  office,  but  "  found  themselves 
greatly  perplexed  about  their  ordination."  Having  under- 
stood that  there  were  some  Waldensian  churches  on  the 
confines  of  Moravia  and  Austria,  to  satisfy  their  own 
scruples,  as  well  as  those  of  others,  they  resolved  to  send 
Michael  Zambergius,  one  of  their  pastors,  with  two  other 
persons,  to  find  out  those  Waldenses,  and  give  them  an  ac- 
count of  what  had  passed  among  them,  and  especially  to 
ask  their  advice  upon  the  matter  in  hand.  They  met  with 
one  Stephen,  a  Waldensian  bishop,  who  sent  for  others  also 
residing  in  that  quarter,  with  whom  the}'  had  a  conference 
upon  the  doctrines  of  the  gospel  and  the  state  of  their 
churches,  and  by  them  the  said  three  pastors  were  ordained 
by  the  imposition  of  hands.  "  Hence,"  says  Dr.  Allix, 
"  it  is  abundantly  evident,  that  as  the  Waldenses  have  pre- 
served the  faith  that  was  committed  to  them,  so  have  they 
been  as  careful  to  preserve  entire  amongst  them  the  ancient 
discipline  of  the  church — and,  hence  it  will  follow,  that 
nothing  can  be  more  false  than  what  is  pretended,  viz.  that 
they  had  no  kind  of  lawful  ministry  among  them,  but  that 
laymen  took  upon  themselves  the  power  of  preaching,  of 
ordaining  ministers,  and  administering  ordinances."* 

*  AUix's  Remarks,  p.  245. 


64  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [cH,  x. 


SHCTIOST  IV. 

Additional  testimonies  in  favour  of  the  Principles  and  Prac- 
tices of  [he  Waldenses,  colhcted  from  the  writings  of  both 
friends  and  foes ;  with  miscellaneous  Kemarks  in  illustra- 
tion of  their  character  and  history. 

Having,  in  the  two  preceding  sections,  endeavoured  to 
lay  before  the  reader  a  fair  and  impartial  representation  of 
the  doctrinal  sentiments,  and  social  religious  practices  of 
the  Waldenses,  and  especially  as  these  stood  in  opposition 
to  the  whole  prevailing  system  of  popery,  I  shall,  before 
proceeding  to  a  detail  of  their  general  history,  adduce  a 
few  additional  particulars  of  a  more  miscellaneous  nature 
than  hatli  been  hitherto  submitted  to  his  consideration. 

Tlie  enemies  of  the  Waldenses,  while  they  stigmatize 
them  as  heretics,  and  think  no  cruelties  too  horrid  to  be 
inflicted  upon  them,  on  account  of  their  opposition  to  the 
whole  system  of  tlie  papal  hierarchy,  are,  nevertheless,  con- 
strained, by  the  force  of  truth,  to  bear  the  most  honourable 
testimony  to  the  integrity,  uprightness,  and  exemplary  de- 
portment, which  so  conspicuously  characterized  this  de- 
nomination of  Christians.  In  proof  of  this,  let  us  attend 
to  the  testimony  of  their  adversaries. 

An  ancient  inquisitor,  to  whose  writings  against  the 
Waldenses,  I  had  occasion  to  refer  in  a  former  section,  thus 
describes  them.  "  These  heretics  are  known  by  their  man- 
ners and  conversation,  for  they  are  orderly  and  modest  in 
their  behaviour  and  deportment.  They  avoid  all  appear- 
ance of  pride  in  their  dress ;  they  neither  indulge  in  linery 
of  attire,  nor  are  they  remarkable  for  being  mean  or  rag- 
ged. They  avoid  commerce,  that  they  may  be  free  from 
deceit  and  falsehood.  They  get  their  livelihood  by  manual 
industry,  as  day-labourers  or  mechanics,  and  their  teachers 
are  weavers  or  tailors.  They  are  not  anxious  about 
amassing  riches,  but  content  themselves  with  the  necessa- 


SECT.  IV.]      Testimonies  in  favour  of  the  WaJdenses.  65 

ries  of  life.  They  are  chaste,  temperate  and  sober.  They 
abstain  from  anger.  Even  wlien  they  work,  they  either 
learn  or  teach.  In  like  manner  also,  their  women  are  very 
modest,  avoiding  backbiting,  foolish  jesting,  and  levity  of 
speech,  especially  abstaining  from  lies  or  swearing,  not  so 
much  as  making  use  of  the  common  asseverations,  '  in 
truth,'  '  for  certain,'  or  the  like,  because  they  regard  these 
as  oaths — contenting  themselves  with  simply  answering 
'  yes'  or  '  no.'  "* 

Claudius  Seisselius,  archbishop  of  Turin,  from  whose 
Treatise  against  the  Waldenses  I  have  quoted  largely  in 
a  former  section,  is  pleased  to  say,  that  "  their  heresy  ex- 
cepted, they  generally  live  a  purer  life  than  other  Chris- 
tians. They  never  swear  but  by  compulsion,  and  rarely 
take  the  name  of  God  in  vain.  They  fulfil  their  promises 
with  punctuality  ;  and,  living  for  the  most  part  in  poverty, 
they  profess  to  preserve  the  apostolic  life  and  doctrine. 
They  also  profess  it  to  be  their  desire  to  overcome  only  by 
the  simplicity  of  faith,  by  purity  of  conscience,  and  inte- 
grity of  life;  not  by  philosophical  niceties  and  theological 
subtleties."  And  he  very  candidly  admits  that — "  In  thejr 
lives  and  morals  they  are  perfect,  irreprehensible,  and  with- 
out reproach  among  men,  addicting  themselves  with  all 
their  might  to  observe  the  commands  of  God."f 

Lielenstenius,  a  Dominican,  speaking  of  the  Waldenses 
of  Bohemia,  says,  "  I  say  that  in  morals  and  hfe  they  are 
good ;  true  in  words,  unanimous  in  brotherly  love ;  but 
their  faith  is  incorrigible  and  vile,  as  1  have  shown  in  my 
Treatise."! 

Samuel  de  Cassini,  a  Franciscan  friar,  speaking  of  them 
in  his  "  Victoria  Trionfale,"  explicitly  owns  in  what  respect 
their  faith  was  incorrigible  and  vile,  when  he  says,  "That 
all  the  errors  of  these  Waldenses  consisted  in  this,  that  they 


*  AUix's  Remarks,  p.  235. 

f  Usher  de  Clirist.  Eccles.  success,  et  statu. — Perrin,  b.  i.  ch.  v. 

I  Usher,  ubi  supra. 


66  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [ch.  v. 

denied  the  church  of  Kome  to  be  the  holy  mother  church, 
and  would  not  obey  her  traditions."* 

Jacobus  de  Riberia,  who  published  a  work  entitled, 
"  Collections  of  the  city  of  Toulouse,"  and  who,  in  his 
time,  assisted  in  persecuting  the  Waldenses,  nevertheless 
acluiowledges,  that  for  a  long  time  they  had  obtained  the 
highest  esteem  in  Narbonne,f  as  well  as  in  the  diocess  of 
Alby,  Rhodes,  Cahors,  and  Agen ;  and  that  those  who 
would  be  styled  priests  and  bishops  [in  the  Catholic  church] 
were  then  but  little  accounted  of,  which  he  resolves  into 
their  ignorance  and  unworthy  conduct,  by  reason  of  which, 
says  he,  it  was  an  easy  matter  for  the  Waldenses  to  obtain 
the  preference  among  the  people  for  the  excellency  of  their 
doctrine.  He  acknowledges  that  they  were  so  well  in- 
structed in  the  Holy  Scriptures,  that  he  had  seen  peasants 
who  could  recite  the  book  of  Job  verbatim,  and  several 
others  who  could  perfectly  repeat  all  the  New  Testament. 

Cardinal  Baronius,  in  his  Ecclesiastical  Annals,  tom. 
xiii.  styles  the  Waldenses  of  Toulouse  "  good  men,"  and 
acknowledges  that  they  were  "peaceable  persons,"  though 
he  elsewhere  falsely  lays  to  their  account  many  heinous  ac- 
cusations.J 

In  the  time  of  a  great  persecution  of  the  Waldenses  of 
Merindol  and  Provence,  a  certain  monk  was  deputed  by 
the  bishop  of  Cavaillon,  to  hold  a  conference  with  them, 
that  they  might  be  convinced  of  their  errors,  and  the  effu- 
sion of  blood  prevented.  But  the  monk  returned  in  con- 
fusion, owning  that  in  his  whole  life  he  had  never  known 
so  much  of  the  Scriptures,  as  he  had  learned  during  those 
few  days  that  he  had  been  conversing  with  the  heretics. 
The  bishop,  however,  sent  among  them  a  number  of  doc- 
tors, young  men,  who  had  lately  come  from  the  Sorbonne, 
which,  at  that  time,  was  the  very  centre  of  Theological 
subtlety  at  Paris.      One  of  these,  publicly  owned  that  he 

*  History  of  Popery,  Vol.  I.  p.  421. 

f  A  city  and  province  in  the  south  of  France. 

I  Perrin's  Hist,  des  Vaudois,  ch.  v. 


SFXT.  IV.]   Testimonies  in  favour  of  the  Waldenses.  67 

had  understood  more  of  the  doctrine  of  salvation  from  the 
answers  of  the  Httle  children  in  their  catechisms,  than  by 
all  the  disputations  which  he  had  ever  before  heard.* 

Francis  I.,  king  of  France,  being  informed  that  the  par- 
liament of  Provence  brought  very  heavy  charges  against 
the  Waldenses,  whom  they  were  then  severely  persecuting, 
at  ^Nlerindol,  Cabriers,  and  other  neigiibouring  places,  was 
desirous  of  ascertaining  the  truth  of  those  accusations. 
With  a  view  to  this,  he  commanded  one  of  his  nobles,  the 
Lord  of  Langeai,  who  was  at  that  time  his  lieutenant  in 
Piedmont,  to  investigate  this  matter,  and  report  to  him  the 
true  state  of  things.  His  lordship  consequently  sent  into 
Provence  two  clergymen,  giving  them  a  strict  charge  to 
inquire  into  the  lives  and  religious  principles  of  the  Wal- 
denses, and  of  the  proceedings  of  the  parliament  against 
them.  On  their  return,  they  reported  that  "  they  were  a 
laborious  race  of  people,  who  about  two  hundred  years 
ago,  had  emigrated  from  Piedmont,  to  dwell  in  Provence, 
— that  betaking  themselves  to  husbandry  and  feeding  of 
cattle,  they  had  restored  many  villages  destroyed  by  the 
wars,  and  rendered  other  desert  and  uncultivated  places  ex- 
tremely fertile  by  their  industry.  That  by  the  information 
given  them  in  the  said  country  of  Provence,  they  found 
they  were  a  very  peaceable  people,  beloved  by  their  neigh- 
bours— men  of  good  behaviour,  of  godly  conversation, 
faithful  to  their  promises,  and  punctual  in  pa^'ing  their 
debts.  That  they  were  a  charitable  people,  not  permitting 
any  among  them  to  fall  into  want.  That  they  were,  more- 
over, liberal  to  strangers  and  the  travelling  poor,  as  far  as 
their  ability  extended.  And  that  the  inhabitants  of  Pro- 
vence affirmed,  they  were  a  people  who  could  not  endure 
to  blaspheme,  or  name  the  devil,  or  swear  at  all,  unless  in 
making  some  solemn  contracts,  or  in  judgment.  Finally, 
that  they  were  well  knowii  by  this,  that  if  they  happened  to 


*  Vesembecius's  Oration  on  tlie  Waldenses,  quoted  by  Porrin,  in  his 
Tlist.  des  Vaiidois.  ch.  v. 


68  History  of  the  Christian  Church.         [ch.  t. 

be  cast  into  any  company,  where  the  conversation  was  las- 
civious or  blasphemous,  to  the  dishonour  of  God,  they  in- 
stantly withdrew.* 

Louis  XII.,  king  of  France,  being  informed  by  the  ene- 
mies of  the  Waldenses,  inhabiting  a  part  of  the  province  of 
Provence,  that  several  heinous  crimes  were  laid  to  their 
account,  sent  the  Master  of  Requests,  and  a  certain  doctor 
of  the  Sorbonne,  who  was  confessor  to  his  majesty,  to  make 
inquiry  into  this  matter.  On  their  return,  they  reported 
that  they  had  visited  all  the  parishes  where  they  dwelt,  had 
inspected  their  places  of  worship,  but  that  they  had  found 
there  no  images,  nor  signs  of  the  ornaments  belonging  to 
the  mass,  nor  any  of  the  ceremonies  of  the  Romish 
church ;  much  less  could  they  discover  any  traces  of  those 
crimes  with  which  they  were  charged.  On  the  contrary,  they 
kept  the  sabbath  day,  observed  the  ordinance  of  baptism, 
according  to  the  primitive  church,  instructed  their  children 
in  the  articles  of  the  Christian  faith,  and  the  commandments 
of  God.  The  king  having  heard  the  report  of  his  commis- 
sioners, said  with  an  oath  that  they  were  better  men  than 
himself  or  his  people.f 

The  same  monarch  having  been  told  that  irj  the  valley 
of  Fraissiniere,  in  the  diocess  of  Ambrun  and  province  of 
Dauphiny,  there  was  a  class  of  people  who  lived  like  beasts, 
without  religion,  and  strongly  opposed  to  the  Romish  wor- 
ship, deputed  one  of  his  confessors  and  the  official  of  Or- 
leans to  investigate  the  truth  or  falsehood  of  this  report. 
The  confessor,  with  his  colleague,  accordingly  repaired  to 
the  place,  where  he  examined  the  Waldenses  who  inhabited 
the  valley,  respecting  their  faith  and  conversation.  The 
archbishop  of  Ambrun,  well  knowing  that  the  goods  of  the 
Waldenses  were  liable  to  confiscation  for  the  crime  of  he- 
resy, and  that  they  would  be  annexed  to  the  domains  of  his 
archbishoprick,  strongly  pressed  the  commissioners  to  con- 

*  Joachim  Camerarius,  in  his  IJisttn-y,  p.  352,  quoted  by  Perrin. 
book  i.  chap.  v. 
f  Vesembecius^s  Oration  ou  the  Wuldenses,  ia  Perrin,  ch.  ?. 


SECT.  IV,]   Testimonies  in  favour  of  the  TValdenses.  69 

dcnn  them  as  heretics.  They,  however,  not  only  resisted 
his  appHcation,  but  even  expressed  their  admiration  of  the 
Waldenses,  insomuch  that  the  king's  confessor  publicly  de- 
clared, in  the  presence  of  a  number  of  his  friends  who  were 
with  him  at  his  lodgings,  at  the  angel  in  Ambrun,  that  he 
wished  he  was  as  good  a  Christian  as  the  worst  of  the  val- 
ley of  Fraissiniere.* 

These  are,  unquestionably,  very  important  testimonies  to 
the  Waldenses  who  resided  in  France  ;  but  I  shall  now  lay 
before  the  reader  a  still  more  interesting  document ;  it  is 
the  testimon}'  which  is  borne  to  these  people,  by  that  emi- 
nent historian  Thuanus — un  enemy  indeed  to  the  Walden- 
ses, himself  being  a  Catholic,  but  he  was,  nevertheless,  a 
fair  and  candid  one.  Quoting  the  words  of  Guy  de  Per- 
pignan,  bishop  of  Elna,  in  Roussillon,  who  exercised  the 
office  of  inquisitor,  against  the  Waldenses,  he  informs  us 
that  "  Their  fixed  opinions  are  said  to  be  these — That  the 
church  of  Rome,  because  she  hath  renounced  the  true  faith 
of  Christ,  is  the  whore  of  Babylon,  and  that  barren  tree 
which  Christ  himself  hath  cursed  and  commanded  to  be 
rooted  up ;  therefore  we  must  by  no  means  obey  the  Pope 
and  the  bishops  who  cherish  his  errors — that  the  monastic 
life  is  the  sink  of  the  church,  and  a  hellish  institution  ;  its 
vows  are  vain,  and  subservient  only  to  the  filthy  love  of  bovs 
— the  orders  of  the  presbytery  are  the  marks  of  the  great 
beast  mentioned  in  the  Apocalypse — the  fire  of  purgatoiy, 
the  sacrifice  of  the  mass,  the  feast  of  the  dedications  of 
churches,  the  worship  of  saints,  and  propitiations  for  the 
dead,  are  the  inventions  of  Satan.  To  these  the  principal 
and  certain  heads  of  their  doctrine,  others  were  fictitiously 
added  concerning  marriage,  the  resurrection,  the  state  of 
the  soul  after  death,  and  concerning  meats."  Again,  de- 
scribing the  inhabitants  of  the  valley  of  Fraissiniere,  he  thus 
proceeds — "  Their  clothing  is    of  the   skins    of  sheep — 

*  Memorials  of  Rostain,  Archbishop  of  Ambruo,  quoted  ia  Perrin, 
ch.  V. 
Vol.  II.  L 


70  History  of  the  Christian  Church,  [ch.  t. 

they  have  no  linen.  The}'  inhabit  seven  villages ;  their 
houses  are  constructed  of  flint  slone,  having  a  flat  roof  co- 
vered with  mud,  which  when  spoiled  or  loosened  by  the 
rain,  they  again  smooth  with  a  roller.  In  these  they  live 
with  their  cattle,  separated  from  them,  however,  by  a  fence. 
They  have  also  two  caves  set  apart  for  particular  purposes, 
in  one  of  which  they  conceal  their  cattle,  in  the  other  them- 
selves, when  hunted  by  their  enemies.  They  live  on  milk 
and  venison,  being,  through  constant  practice,  excellent 
marksmen.  Poor  as  they  are,  they  are  content,  and  live 
in  a  state  of  seclusion  from  the  rest  of  mankind.  One 
thing  is  very  remarkable,  that  persons  externally  so  savage 
and  rude,  should  have  so  much  moral  cultivation.  They 
can  all  read  and  write.  They  know  French  sufficiently 
for  the  understanding  of  the  Bible  and  the  singing  of 
Psalms.  You  can  scarcely  find  a  boy  among  them,  who 
cannot  give  you  an  intelligible  account  of  the  faith  which 
they  profess.  In  this,  indeed,  they  resemble  their  brethren 
of  the  other  valleys.  They  pay  tribute  with  a  good  con- 
science, and  the  obligation  of  this  duty  is  peculiarly  noted 
in  their  confession  of  faith.  If,  by  reason  of  the  civil  wars, 
they  are  prevented  from  doing  this,  they  carefully  set 
apart  the  sum,  and  at  the  first  opportunity  pay  it  to  the 
king's  tax  gatherers."* 

But  of  all  the  Catholic  writers,  who  have  treated  of  the 
Waldenses,  there  is  none  whose  testimony  is  more  import- 
ant than  that  of  Reinerius  Saccho.  He  had  himself  been 
one  of  their  number,  and  consequently  could  speak  of  them 
from  his  personal  knowledge.  He  had  apostatized  from 
their  profession  ;  was  "by  merit  raised  to  the  bad  eminence" 
of  an  inquisitor  in  the  Catholic  church,  and  of  course  was 
become  one  of  their  bitterest  persecutors.  He  wrote  a 
book  against  them,  (A.  D.  1258,)  from  which  I  have  al- 
ready quoted  largely  in  a  former  section.  But  that  extract 
is  almost  wholly  confined  to  an  enumeration  of  the  articles 

*  Thuani  Hist,  sui  temporis,  lib.  vi.  sect.  16.  and  lib.  xxvii. 


SECT.  IV.]    Testimonies  in  favour  of  the  Waldenses.         71 

on  which  ihey  did  not  agree  with  the  Catholic  church. 
Let  the  reader  now  remark  his  unbought  testimony  in  their 
favour.  "  Of  all  the  sects  that  have  risen  up  against  the 
church  of  Rome,"  says  he,  "the  Waldenses  have  been 
the  most  prejudicial  and  pernicious,  inasmuch  as  their  op- 
position has  been  of  ver}'  long  continuance.  Add  to  which, 
that  this  sect  is  become  very  general,  for  there  is  scarcely 
a  country  to  be  found  in  which  this  heresy  is  not  planted. 
And,  in  the  third  place,  because  while  all  other  sects  beget 
in  people  a  dread  and  horror  of  them  on  account  of  their 
blasphemies  against  God,  this,  on  the  contrary,  hath  a  great 
appearance  of  godliness;  for,  they  live  righteously  before 
men,  believe  rightly  concerning  God  in  every  particular, 
holding  all  the  articles  contained  in  the  [apostles']  creed — 
but  hating  and  reviling  the  church  of  Rome,  and  on  this 
subject  they  are  readily  believed  by  the  people."* 

"The  first  lesson,"  says  he,  in  another  place,  "that  the 
Waldenses  teach  those  whom  they  bring  over  to  their 
party,  is  to  instruct  them  what  kind  of  persons  the  disci- 
ples of  Christ  ought  to  be,  and  this  they  do  by  the  doctnne 
of  the  evangelists  and  apostles,  saying  that  those  only  are 
the  followers  of  the  apostles  who  imitate  their  manner  of 
life.  Inferring  from  thence,"  says  he,  "  that  the  Pope,  the 
bishops,  and  the  clergy,  who  possess  the  riches  of  this 
world,  and  make  them  the  object  of  their  pursuit,  do  not 
tread  in  the  footsteps  of  the  apostles,  and  therefore  are  not 
the  true  guides  of  the  church;  it  never  having  been  the 
design  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  to  commit  his  chaste  and 
well-beloved  spouse  to  those  who  would  rather  prostitute 
her  by  their  bad  example  and  abominable  works,  than  pre- 
serve her  in  the  same  state  of  purity  in  which  they  at  first 
received  her,  a  virgin  chaste  and  without  spot."f 

The  same  author  has  furnished  us  with  an  interesting 
account  of  the  manner  in  which   the  Waldenses  privately 

*  Reioerius  contra  Waldenses,  in  Perrin,  b.  ii.  ch.  i. 

f  Idem,  cap.  de  studio  pervertendi  alios  ct  modo  docendi,  fol.  98. 


72  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [cH.  v. 

disseminated  their  principles  among  the  gentry;  and  a 
proper  attention  to  it  will  sufficiently  explain  to  the  reader 
the  amount  of  various  charges  brought  against  them,  from 
time  to  time,  by  the  Catholic  writers,  vix.  that  they  allowed 
their  women  to  teach.  It  seems  to  have  been  a  common 
practice  with  their  teachers,  the  more  readily  to  gain  access 
for  their  doctrine  among  persons  in  the  higher  ranks  of 
life,  to  carry  with  them  a  small  box  of  trinkets,  or  articles 
of  dress,  something  like  the  hawkers  or  pedlars  of  our  day, 
and  Reinerius  thus  describes  the  manner  in  which  they 
were  wont  to  introduce  themselves. 

•"Sir,  will  you  please  to  buy  any  rings,  or  seals,  or 
trinkets.^  Madam,  will  you  look  at  any  handkerchiefs,  or 
pieces  of  needlework  for  veils;  I  can  afford  them  cheap." 
If  after  a  purchase  the  company  ask,  "Have  you  any  thing 
more?"  the  salesman  would  reply,  "O  yes,  I  have  com- 
modities far  more  valuable  than  these,  and  I  will  make 
you  a  present  of  them,  if  you  will  protect  me  from  the 
clergy."  Security  being  promised,  on  he  would  go.  "The 
inestimable  jewel  I  spoke  of,  is  the  word  of  God,  by  which 
he  communicates  his  mind  to  men,  and  which  inflames 
their  hearts  with  love  to  him."  "In  the  sixth  month  the 
angel  Gabriel  was  sent  from  God  unto  a  city  of  Galilee 
named  Nazareth" — and  so  he  would  proceed  to  repeat  the 
remaining  part  of  the  first  chapter  of  Luke.*  Or,  he 
would  begin  with  the  thirteenth  of  John,  and  repeat  the 
last  discourse  of  Jesus  to  his  disciples.  If  the  company 
should  seem  pleased,  he  would  proceed  to  repeat  the 
twenty-third  of  Matthew.  "The  scribes  and  pharisees  sit 
in  Moses'  seat — Wo  unto  you;  ye  shut  up  the  kingdom 
of  heaven  against  men ;  for  ye  neither  go  in  yourselves, 
neither  suffer  ye  them  that  are  entering  to  go  in.  Wo 
unto   you,    ye    devour    widows'    houses." — "And    pray," 


*  The  reader  should  keep  in  mind,  that  at  this  time  the  use  of  the 
Bible  was  not  allowed  by  the  Pope  to  the  laity,  and  indeed  very  few  of 
the  clergy  knew  any  thing  about  its  contents. 


sect.it.]  How  the  Waldenses propagated  their  sentiments.  73 

should  one  of  the  company  say,  "Against  whom  are  these 
woes  denounced,  think  you.'"'  he  would  reply,  "  Aj^ainst  tlie 
clergy  and  the  monks.  The  doctors  of  the  Roman  church 
are  pompous,  both  in  their  habits  and  their  manners — they 
love  the  uppermost  rooms,  and  the  chief  seats  in  the  syna- 
gogues, and  to  be  called  Rabbi,  Rabbi.  For  our  parts, 
we  desire  no  such  Rabbies.  They  are  incontinent;  we 
live  each  in  chastity  with  his  own  wife.  The}'  are  the  rich 
and  avaricious,  of  whom  the  Lord  says,  'Wo  unto  you, 
ye  rich,  for  ye  have  received  your  consolation;'  but  we, 
'having  food  and  raiment  are  therewith  content.'  They 
are  voluptuous,  and  devour  widows'  houses — we  only  eat 
to  be  refreshed  and  supported.  They  fight  and  encourage 
wars,  and  command  the  poor  to  be  killed  and  burnt,  in 
defiance  of  the  saying,  '  he  that  taketh  the  sword  shall 
perish  by  the  sword.'  For  our  parts,  they  persecute  us  for 
righteousness'  sake.  They  do  nothing,  but  eat  the  bread 
of  idleness.  We  work  with  our  hands.  They  monopolize 
the  giving  of  instruction,  and  'wo  be  to  them  that  take 
away  the  key  of  knowledge.'  But  among  us,  women 
teach,  as  well  as  men,  and  one  disciple  as  soon  as  he  is 
informed  himself,  teaches  another.  Among  them,  you  can 
hardly  find  a  doctor  who  can  repeat  three  chapters  of  the 
New  Testament  by  heart — but  of  us  there  is  scarcely  man 
or  woman  who  doth  not  retain  the  whole.  And  because 
we  are  sincere  believers  in  Christ,  and  all  teach  and  enforce 
a  holy  life  and  conversation,  these  Scribes  and  Pharisees 
persecute  us  to  death,  as  their  predecessors  did  Jesus 
Christ."* 

The  plan  adopted  by  the  Waldenses,  for  eng^iging  the 
attention  of  others  to  the  word  of  God,  as  described  by 
Reinerius  in  the  foregoing  extract,  is  both  simple  and 
striking,  and  deserves  the  attention  of  missionaries  in  the 
present  day.  It  seems  to  have  been  prosecuted  for  several 
centuries,  even  beyond  the  times  of  the  Reformation,  as 

*  Reineri,  cap.  viii.  Quomodo  se  ingerant/amiliaritati  magnorum. 


74  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [ch.  v. 

appears*  from  the  following  circumstance.  The  first  editor 
of  the  complete  book  of  Reinerius  was  Father  Gretzer, 
who  published  it  in  the  year  1613.  In  the  margin  of  that 
work,  opposite  to  the  passage  above  quoted,  he  has  placed 
these  words.  "This  is  a  true  picture  of  the  heretics  of 
our  age,  particularly  of  the  Anabaptists."*  There  are  few 
of  the  Baptists  of  the  present  day,  it  is  to  be  hoped,  who 
would  blush  to  own  an  alliance  with  either  the  old  Wal- 
densian  preachers,  or  the  heretical  Baptists  referred  to  by 
this  father  of  the  Catholic  church,  at  least  in  this  part  of 
their  conduct;  and  indeed  it  would  be  well  if  all  our  Mis- 
sionaries and  private  Christians  of  the  present  day,  were 
as  conversant  with  the  word  of  God  as  the  Waldenses, 
even  in  that  dark  age,  appear,  from  the  testimony  of  their 
very  enemies,  to  have  been.  But  not  to  enlarge,  I  close 
this  section  by  laying  before  the  reader  a  few  of  the  testi- 
monies that  were  borne  to  the  Waldenses,  by  our  first 
protestant  reformers,  and  earlier  historians,  who,  as  most 
of  them  lived  about  three  hundred  years  nearer  to  their  times 
than  we  do,  may  reasonably  be  supposed  much  better  quali- 
fied than  ourselves  for  appreciating  their  true  character. 

In  the  year  1530,  Ecolampauius,  one  of  the  Reformers, 
then  resident  at  Basle,  in  Switzerland,  was  visited  by 
George  Morell,  one  of  the  pastors  among  the  Waldenses, 
by  whom,  on  his  return  to  Provence,  he  addressed  a  letter 
"  to  his  well  beloved  brethren  in  Christ,  called  Waldenses," 
and  it  is  as  follows. 

"We  have  learned  with  great  satisfaction,  by  your 
faithful  pastor,  George  Morell,  the  nature  of  your  faith 
and  religious  profession,  and  in  what  terms  you  declare  it. 
Therefore,  we  thank  our  most  merciful  Father,  who  hath 
called  you  to  so  great  light  in  this  age,  amidst  the  dark 
clouds  of  ignorance  which  have  spread  themselves  over  the 
w  orld,  and  notwithstanding  the  extravagant  power  of  Anti- 


*  Vera  effigies  hereticorum  nostrae  aetatis  [1613,]  praeserlim  Ana- 
baptistarum. 


SECT.  IV.]  Ecolampadius — Luther.  75 

ohrist.  Wherefore  we  acknowledge  that  Christ  is  in  you : 
for  which  cause  we  love  you  as  brethren ;  and  would  to 
God  we  were  able  to  make  you  sensible  in  effect  of  that 
which  we  shall  be  ready  to  do  for  you,  although  it  were  to 
be  done  with  the  utmost  difficulty.  Finally,  we  desire 
that  what  we  write  may  not  be  looked  upon  as  though 
through  pride  we  arrogated  to  ourselves  any  superiority 
over  you,  but  consider  it  as  proceeding  from  that  brotherly 
love  and  charity  which  we  bear  towards  you.  The  Father 
of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  hath  imparted  to  you  an  excel- 
lent knowledge  of  his  truth,  beyond  that  of  many  other 
people,  and  hath  blessed  you  with  spiritual  blessings.  So 
that  if  you  persevere  in  his  grace,  he  hath  much  greater 
treasures  wherewith  to  enrich  you,  and  make  you  perfect, 
according  to  your  advancement  in  the  measure  of  the 
inheritance  of  Christ." 

Luther,  in  the  year  1533,  published  the  Confessions  of" 
the  Waldenses,  to  which  he  wrote  a  preface.  In  this  pre- 
face he  candidly  acknowledges  that,  in  the  days  of  his 
popery,  he  had  hated  the  Waldenses,  as  persons  who  were 
consigned  over  to  perdition.  But  having  understood  front 
their  confessions  and  writings  the  piety  of  their  faith,  he 
perceived  that  those  good  men  had  been  greatly  wronged 
whom  the  Pope  had  condemned  as  heretics;  for  that,  on 
the  contrary,  they  were  rather  entitled  to  the  praise  due  to 
holy  martyrs.  He  adds,  that  among  them  he  had  found 
one  thing  worthy  of  admiration,  a  thing  unheard  of  in  the 
popish  church,  that,  laying  aside  the  doctrines  of  men, 
they  meditated  in  the  law  of  God,  day  and  night;  and 
that  they  were  expert,  and  even  well  versed  in  the  know- 
ledge of  the  Scriptures;  whereas,  in  the  papacy,  those 
who  are  called  masters  wholly  neglected  the  Scriptures, 
and  some  of  them  had  not  so  much  as  seen  the  Bible  at 
any  time.  Moreover,  having  read  the  Waldensian  con- 
fessions, he  said  he  returned  thanks  to  God  for  the  great 
light  which  it  had  pleased  him  to  bestow  upon  that  people; 
rejoicing  that  all  cause  of  suspicion  being  removed  which 


76  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [ch.  v. 

had  existed  between  them  and  the  reformed,  they  were 
Wow  brought  together  into  one  sheepfold,  under  the  Chief 
Shepherd  and  Bishop  of  souls.* 

Theodore  Beza,  the  cotemporary  and  colleague  of 
Calvin,  in  his  "Treatise  of  the  famous  pillars  of  learning 
and  religion,"  says,  "As  for  the  Waldenses,  I  may  be 
permitted  to  call  them  the  very  seed  of  the  primitive  and 
purer  Christian  church,  since  they  are  those  that  have  been 
upheld,  as  is  abundantly  manifest,  by  the  wonderful  pro- 
vidence of  God,  so  that  neither  those  endless  storms  and 
tempests  by  which  the  whole  Christian  world  has  been 
shaken  for  so  many  succeeding  ages,  and  the  western  parts 
at  length  so  miserably  oppressed  by  the  bishop  of  Rome, 
falsely  so  called;  nor  those  horrible  persecutions  which 
have  been  expressly  raised  against  them,  were  ever  able  so 
far  to  prevail  as  to  make  them  bend,  or  yield  a  voluntary 
subjection  to  the  Roman  tyranny  and  idolatry. f 

On  another  occasion  the  same  writer  remarks  that, 
"The  Waldenses,  time  out  of  mind,  have  opposed  the 
abuses  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  and  have  been  persecuted 
after  such  a  manner,  not  by  the  sword  of  the  word  of  God, 
but  by  every  species  of  cruelty,  added  to  a  million  of 
calumnies  and  false  accusations,  that  they  have  been  com- 
pelled to  disperse  themselves  wherever  they  could,  wan- 
dering through  the  deserts  like  wild  beasts.  The  Lord, 
nevertheless,  has  so  preserved  the  residue  of  them,  that 
notwithstanding  the  rage  of  the  whole  world,  they  still 
inhabit  three  countries,  at  a  great  distance  from  each  other, 
viz.  Calabria,  Bohemia,  and  Piedmont,  and  the  countries 
adjoining,  where  they  dispersed  themselves  from  the  quar- 
ters of  Provence  about  two  hundred  and  seventy  years  ago. 
And  as  to  their  religion,  they  never  adhered  to  papal  su- 
perstitions; for  which  reason  they  have  been  continually 


*  Morland's  History  of  the  Churches  of  Piedmont,  p.  58.     Perrin's 
Vaudois,  ch.  vi. 

f  Preface  to  Morland's  History,  p.  7 


SECT.  IV.]    Testimonies  in  favour  of  the  Waldenses.  77 

harassed  by  the  bishops  and  inquisitors  abusing  the  arm 
of  secular  justice,  so  that  their  continuance  to  the  present 
time  is  evidently  miraculous."* 

BuLLiNGEK,  in  the  preface  to  his  Sermons  on  the  book 
of  the  Revelation,  (1530,)  writes  thus  concerning  the 
Waldenses.  "What  shall  we  say,  that  for  four  hundred 
years  and  more,  in  France,  Italy,  Germany,  Poland,  Bo- 
hemia, and  other  countries  throughout  the  world,  the 
Waldenses  have  sustained  their  prol'ession  of  the  gospel  of 
Christ,  and  in  several  of  their  writings,  as  well  as  by  con- 
tinual preaching,  they  have  accused  the  Pope  as  the  real 
Antichrist  foretold  by  the  apostle  John,  and  whom,  there- 
fore, we  ought  to  avoid.  These  people  have  undergone 
divers  and  cruel  torments,  yet  have  they  constantly  and 
openly  given  testimony  to  their  faith  by  glorious  martyr- 
doms, and  still  do  so  even  to  this  day.  Although  it  has 
often  been  attempted  by  the  most  powerful  kings  and 
princes,  instigated  by  the  Pope,  and  it  hath  been  found  im- 
possible to  exlupate  them,  for  God  hath  frustrated  their 
eflbrts."t 

Monsieur  de  Vignaux,  who  was  forty  years  pastor  of 
one  of  the  churches  of  the  Waldenses,  in  the  valleys  of 
Piedmont,  and  died  at  the  age  of  eighty,  wrote  a  Treatise 
concerning  their  life,  manners,  and  religion,  in  which  he 
says,  "  We  live  in  peace  and  harmony  one  with  another, 
have  intercourse  and  dealings  chiefly  among  ourselves,  ha- 
ving never  mingled  ourselves  with  the  members  of  the  church 
of  Rome  by  marrying  our  sons  to  their  daughters,  nor  our 
daughters  to  their  sons.  Yet  they  are  so  pleased  with  our 
manners  and  customs,  that  Catholics,  both  lords  and  others, 
would  rather  have  men  and  maid  servants  from  among  us, 
than  from  those  of  their  own  religion,  and  they  actually 
come  from  distant  parts  to  seek  nurses  among  us  for  their 


*  History  of  the  Reformed  Churches  iu  France,  torn.  i.  b.  i.  p.  35 
in  Perrin,  b.  i.  eh.  vi 
f  Preface  to  his  Sermons,  quoted  by  Perrin,  ch.  vi 
Vol.  II.  M  " 


78  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [ch.  v. 

little  children,  finding,  as  they  say,  more  fidelity  among  our 
people  than  their  own."     He  then  gives  a  summary  of  their 
doctrinal  principles,  for  the  sake  of  which  they  have  been 
persecuted,  such  as   "  that  the  Holy  Scriptures  contain   all 
things  necessary  to  our  salvation,  and  that  we  are  called  to 
believe  only  what  they  teach,  without  any  regard  to  the  au- 
thority of  man — that  nothing  else  ought  to  be  received  by 
us,  except  what  God  has  commanded — that  there  is  only 
one  mediator  between  God  and  man,  and  consequently  that 
it  is  wrong  to  invoke  the  saints.     That  baptism  and  the 
Lord's  supper  are  the  only  standing  ordinances  in  the  church 
of  Christ — that  all  masses  are  damnable,  and  ought  to  be 
abolished — that  all  human  traditions  are  to  be   rejected. 
That  the  saying  and  recital  of  the  office,  fasts  confined  to 
particular  days,  superfluous  holy-days,  differences  of  meats, 
so   many  degrees   and  orders  of  priests,  monks  and  nuns, 
so  many  benedictions  and  consecrations  of  creatures,  vows, 
pilgrimages,  and  the  whole  vast  and  confused  mass  of  cere- 
monies, formerly  invented,  ought  to  be  aboUshed.     They 
deny  the  supremacy  of  the  Pope,  and  more  especially  the 
power  that  he  has  usurped  over  the  civil  government,  and 
admit  of  no  other  degrees  than  bishops  and  deacons.   They 
contend  that  the  See  of  Rome  is  the  true  Babylon — the 
marriage  of  the  clergy  lawful,  and  that  the  true  church  of 
Christ  consists  of  those  who  hear  the  word  of  God  and 
believe  it."* 

John  Chassagnon,  who  wrote  a  History  of  the  Albi- 
genses,  says,  "  It  is  recorded  of  the  Waldenses,  that  they 
rejected  all  the  traditions  and  ordinances  of  the  Church  of 
Rome  as  being  superstitious  and  unprofitable,  and  that 
they  made  light  of  the  whole  body  of  the  clergy  and  pre- 
lates. On  which  account,  having  been  excommunicated 
and  expelled  their  country,  they  dispersed  themselves  in  dif- 
ferent places,  vi?,.  into  Dauphiny,  Provence,  Languedoc, 
Piedmont,  Calabria,  Bohemia,  England,  and   elsewhere, 

*  Perrin's  History,  b.  i.  ch.  vi. 


SECT.  IV.]  Milton'' s     Testimony.  79 

Some  say,  that  a  part  of  the  Waldenses  retired  into  Loni- 
bardy,  (in  Italy,)  where  they  multiplied  to  such  an  extent 
that  their  doctrine  spread  itself  throughout  Italy,  and  reach- 
ed even  into  Sicily.  Neverihcless,  in  all  their  dispersions 
they  maintained  among  themselves  some  union  and  frater- 
nity, during  the  space  of  four  hundred  years,  living  in 
great  simplicity  and  the  fear  of  God."* 

To  these  numerous  testimonies,  I  shall  now  add  that  of 
our  great  poet  Milton,  who  seems  to  have  diligtnitly  stu- 
died the  character  of  the  Waldenses,  and  to  have  well  un- 
derstood their  principles  and  the  constitution  of  their 
churches.  Of  this  the  render  will  find  abundant  evidence 
hereafter  in  the  numerous  letters  which  he  wrote  in  their 
behalf  to  the  Protestant  princes  of  Europe,  pleading  their 
cause  against  their  popish  persecutors.  What  I  have  at 
present  in  view  is,  the  account  given  by  him  of  the  consti- 
tution of  their  churches,  and  the  simplicity  of  their  worship. 
He  wrote  a  Tract,  entitled  "  Considerations  touching  the 
likeliest  means  to  remove  hirelings  out  of  the  church,"  ad- 
dressed to  the  Parliament  of  England  ;  in  which  he  shows 
the  pernicious  effects  arising  from  the  endowing  of  churches 
with  tythes ;  refutes,  in  the  most  convincing  manner,  the 
various  pleas  which  were  urged  by  episcopalians  in  favour 
of  that  practice,  as  founded  on  the  Jewish  law ;  and  fre- 
quently adduces  the  happy  poverty  and  purity  of  the  Wal- 
denses, as  forming  a  striking  contrast  to  the  corruptions 
that  abounds  in  national  churches.  "  For  the  first  three 
hundred  years  and  upwards,"  says  he,  "  in  all  the  ecclesias- 
tical story,  I  find  no  such  doctrine  or  example,  [as  that  of 
supporting  the  pastors  of  Christian  churches  by  the  im- 
position of  tythes]  though  error  by  that  time  had  brought 
back  again  priests,  altars,  and  oblations ;  and  in  many 
other  points  of  religion  had  miserably  judaised  the  church." 
— "  The  first  Christian  emperors,  who  did  all  things  as 
bishops  advised  them,  supplied  what  was   wanting  to  the 

*  Perrin's  History,  b.  i  ch.  vi. 


80  History  of  (he  Christian  Church.  [ch.  r, 

clergy,  not  out  of  tythes,  which  never  was  mentioned,  but 
out  of  their  own  imperial  revenues  ;  as  is  manitest  in  Euse- 
bius,  Theodoret,  and  Sozomen,  from  [the  times  of]  Con- 
stantine  to  Arcadius.  Hence  those  most  ancient  reformed 
churches  of  the  Waldenses,  if  they  rather  continued  not 
pure  since  the  apostles'  days,  denied  that  tythes  were  to 
be  given,  or  that  they  were  ever  given  in  the  primitive 
church,  as  appears  by  an  ancient  tractate  inserted  in  the  Bo- 
hemian history.  The  [pastors  of  the]  poor  Waldenses,  the 
ancient  stock  of  our  reformation,  without  the  help  (of  tythes) 
bred  up  themselves  in  trades,  and  especially  in  physic  and 
surgery,  as  well  as  in  the  study  of  Scripture,  which  is  the 
only  true  theology,  that  they  might  be  no  burden  to  the 
church ;  and  after  the  example  of  Christ  might  cure  both 
soul  and  body,  through  industry  adding  that  to  their  minis- 
try which  he  joined  to  his  by  the  gift  of  the  Spirit.  So 
Peter  Gilles  relates,  in  his  history  of  the  Waldenses  of 
Piedmont.  But  our  ministers  scorn  to  use  a  trade,  and 
count  it  a  reproach  of  this  age  that  tradesmen  preach  the 
gospel.  It  were  to  be  wished  they  were  all  tradesmen ; 
they  would  not  then  for  want  of  another  trade  make  a  trade 
of  tlieir  preaching  :  and  yet  they  clamour  that  tradesmen 
preach,  though  they  preach  while  themselves  are  the  worst 
tradesmen  of  all." — "  Seeing  the  Christian  church  is  not 
national,  biit  consists  of  many  particular  congregations,  not 
determined  by  any  outward  judge  in  matters  of  conscience, 
those  pretended  church  revenues,  as  they  have  ever  been, 
so  they  are  likely  to  continue,  matters  of  endless  dissention 
between  the  church  and  the  magistrate,  and  the  churches 
among  themselves ;  there  will,  therefore,  be  found  no  better 
remedy  for  these  evils,  otherwise  incurable,  than  (after  the 
example  of)  the  most  incorrupt  council  of  those  Waldenses, 
our  first  retbrmers,  to  remove  them  as  a  pest — an  apple  of 
discord  in  the  church  ;  for  what  else  can  the  effect  of  riches 
be,  and  the  snare  of  money  in  religion  ?  and  to  convert 
them  to  more  profitable  uses ;  considering  that  the  church 
of  Christ  was  founded  in  poverty  rather  than  in  revenues, 


SECT.  IT.]  Dr.  Jortiri's   Testimony.  81 

stood  purest  and  prospered  best  without  them,  received  them 
unlawfully  from  those  who  both  erroneously  and  unjustly, 
sometimes  impiously,  gave  them,  and  so  were  justly  ensnared 
and  corrupted  by  them." — "  The  Waldenses,  our  first  refor- 
mers, both  from  the  Scriptures  and  primitive  example,  main- 
tained those  among  them  who  bore  the  office  of  ministers  by 
alms  alone.  Take  their  very  words, '  Our  food  and  clothing 
is  sufficiently  administered  and  given  to  us  by  way  of  gratui- 
ty and  alms,  by  the  good  people  whom  we  teach.'  As  for 
church  endowments  and  possessions,  I  meet  with  none  con- 
siderable before  Constantine,  but  the  houses  and  gardens 
where  they  met,  and  their  places  of  burial  :  and  I  persuade 
myself,  that  from  thence  the  ancient  Waldenses,  whom  I 
deservedly  cite  so  often,  held  that  '  to  endow  churches  is  an 
evil  thing,'  and  that  the  church  then  fell  off  and  became 
the  whore  sitting  on  that  beast  mentioned  in  the  book  of 
the  Revelation,  when,  under  Pope  Sylvester,  she  received 
those  temporal  donations.  So  the  forecited  tractate  of 
their  doctrine  testifies." 

Thus  far  Milton  ;  on  which  it  may  be  observed,  that  to 
such  as  have  studied  the  annals  of  the  Christian  church, 
and  are  in  any  tolerable  degree  aware  how  much  the  ava- 
rice, pride,  and  ambition  of  the  clergy,  have  in  all  ages 
contributed  to  promote  the  corruptions  that  have  prevailed 
in  it,  both  in  doctrine,  discipline,  and  worship,  the  view 
that  he  gives  us  of  the  humble  and  self-denied  deportment 
of  the  Waldensian  pastors,  must  be  considered  as  one  of 
the  strongest  evidences  that  can  be  afforded  of  the  purity 
of  the  communion  of  their  churches,  and  of  their  close  ad- 
herence to  the  pattern  left  them  for  imitation  in  the  appro- 
ved examples  of  the  New  Testament.  But  Milton  was  not 
singular  in  the  commendation  that  he  has  given  to  the  con- 
fessors of  Piedmont ;  for  thus  writes  the  candid  Jortin,  in 
perfect  consistency  with  our  great  poet.  "  The  Waldenses 
taught  that  the  Roman  church  departed  from  its  former 
sanctity  and  purity  in  the  time  of  Constantine  the  great ; 


^2  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [ch.  v. 

they  therefore  refused  to  submit  to  the  usurped  powers  of 
its  Pontiff.  They  said  that  the  prelates  and  doctors  ought 
to  imitate  the  poverty  of  the  Apostles,  and  earn  their  bread 
by  the  labour  of  their  hands.  They  contended  that  the 
ojffice  of  teaching,  confirming,  and  admonishing  the  brethren, 
belonged  in  some  measure  to  all  Christians,  <^c.  Their  dis- 
cipline was  extremely  strict  and  austere ;  for  they  inter- 
preted Christ's  discourse  on  the  mount  according  to  the  li- 
teral sense  of  the  words,  and  they  condemned  war,  law-suits, 
the  acquisition  of  riches,  capital  punishments,  oaths,  and 
[even]  self-defence."  Again,  the  same  writer  remarks, 
that  "the  honest  Waldenses  very  plainly  discerned  that 
the  powers  usurped  by  the  Popes  and  ecclesiastics  were  ty- 
rannical and  antichristian,  and  consequently  that  the  decre- 
tals which  established  some  of  those  notions  must  have  been 
impudent  forgeries.  Why  could  not  the  Popes  discern  the 
same  ?  Because  profaneness,  pride,  ambition,  and  avarice, 
hardened  their  hearts  and  blinded  their  eyes ;  because  they 
w^ould  neither  examine,  nor  let  other  people  examine."* 
But  not  to  enlarge  further  on  this  particular,  I  shall  close 
this  section  with  a  few  general  remarks. 

An  impartial  review  of  the  doctrinal  sentiments  main- 
tained by  the  Waldenses  ;  the  discipline,  order,  and  worship 
of  their  churches,  as  well  as  their  general  deportment  and 
manner  of  hfe,  not  to  mention  their  determined  and  uniform 
opposition  to  the  church  of  Rome,  affords  abundant  evi- 
dence of  the  similarity  of  their  views  and  practices  to  those 
held  by  Luther,  Calvin,  and  the  other  illustrious  cha- 
racters, whose  labours,  in  the  sixteenth  century,  contri- 
buted so  eminently  to  effect  the  glorious  Reformation. 
Most  of  the  catholic  writers,  who  lived  about  the  time  of 
the  Reformation,  and  the  age  which  succeeded  it,  clearly 
saw  this  coincidence  between  the  principles  of  the  Walden- 
ses and  those  of  the  reformers,  and  remarked  it  in  their 
works.     The  following  are  instances  of  this. 

*  Remarks  on  Eccles  Hist.  Vol.  III.  p.  303 


SECT.  IV.]     The  Waldenses  the  first  Reformers.  83 

Cardinal  Hosius,  a  learned  and  zealous  champion  for  the 
papacy,  who  presided  at  the  council  of  Trent,  lived  during 
the  Lutheran  relonnation,  and  wrote  a  history  of  the  here- 
sies of  his  own  times,  in  which  he  says,  "  the  leprosy  of  the 
Waldenses  spread  its  infection  throughout  all  Bohemia — 
and  following  the  doctrine  of  Waldo,  the  greatest  part 
of  that  kingdom  separated  itself  from  the  church  of 
Rome." 

Lindanus,  a  catholic  bishop  of  the  see  of  Ghent,  who 
wrote  in  defence  of  the  tenets  of  the  church  of  Rome,  about 
1560,  terms  Calvin  "the  inheritor  of  the  doctrine  of  the 
Waldenses." 

Mezeray,  the  celebrated  historiographer  of  France,  in 
his  Abridgement  of  Chronology,  speaking  of  the  Walden- 
ses, says,  "  They  held  nearly  the  same  opinions  as  those 
who  are  now  called  Calvinists." 

Gualtier,  a  Jesuitical  monk,  in  his  chronographical  ta- 
bles, drew  up  a  catalogue  consisting  of  seven  and  twenty 
particulars,  in  which  he  shows  that  the  principles  of  the 
W^aldenses,  and  those  of  the  Calvinists  coincided  with  each 
other. 

Thomas  Walden,  who  wrote  against  Wicklifl',  says  that 
the  doctrine  of  Peter  Waldo  was  conveyed  from  France 
into  England — and  that  among  others  Wickliff  received  it. 
In  this  opinion  he  is  joined  by  Alphonsus  de  Castro,  who 
says  that  Wickliff  only  brought  to  light  again  the  errors  of 
the  Waldenses.  Cardinal  Bellarmine,  also,  is  pleased  to 
say  that  "  Wickhff  could  add  nothing  to  the  heresy  of  the 
Waldenses." 

Ecchius  reproached  Liither,  that  he  only  renewed  the 
heresies  of  the  Waldenses  and  Albigenses,  of  Wickliff,  and 
of  Huss,  which  had  long  ago  been  condemned.  With  him 
may  also  be  classed  Claude  Rubis,  who  wrote  the  History 
of  the  city  of  Lyons,  in  which,  adverting  to  the  principles 
of  Luther,  he  says,  "  the  heresies  that  have  been  current  in 
our  time  are  founded  upon  those  of  the  Waldenses,"  and 
he  calls  them  "  the  relics  of  Waldo." 


S4  History  of  the  Christian  Church.         [ch.  v. 

iEiieas  Sylvius  (afterwards  Pope  Pius  II.)  declares  the 
doctrine  taugiit  by  Calvin  to  be  the  same  as  that  of  the 
Waldenses.  In  this  opinion  he  was  followed  by  John  de 
Cardonne,  who,  in  his  Life  of  the  Monk  of  the  Valleys  of 
Sernay,  thus  quaintly  expresses  himself, 

"What  the  sect  of  Geneva  doth  admit, 
The  Albigenses  did  commit."* 

To  these  impartial  testimonies,  which  are  more  than  suf- 
ficient to  settle  the  question  of  family  likeness,  I  shall  only 
add  that  of  the  learned  Limborch,  professor  of  divinity  in 
the  university  of  Amsterdam,  and  that  of  Dr.  Mosheim,  the 
ecclesiastical  historian.  The  former,  comparing  them  wnth 
the  Christians  of  his  own  time,  says,  "  To  speak  candidly 
what  I  think,  of  all  the  modern  sects  of  Christians,  the 
Dutch  Baptists  most  resemble  both  the  Albigenses  and 
Waldenses."!  "^^^  latter,  notwithstanding  the  flimsy, 
confused,  and,  in  many  instances,  the  erroneous  account 
which  he  has  given  of  the  Waldenses,  yet  has  expressly 
owned,  that  "  before  the  rise  of  Luther  and  Calvin,  there 
lay  concealed,  in  almost  all  the  countries  of  Europe,  per- 
sons who  had  adhered  tenaciously  to  the  principles  of  the 
modern  Dutch  Baptists."| 


SECTIOST  V. 

Some  account  of  the  rise  and  establishment  of  the  Inquisition , 
with  reflections  on  its  general  spirit  and  operation. 

The  preceding  sections  will  have  enabled  the  reader  to 
form  a  tolerably  correct  judgment  concerning  the  religious 

*  Perrin's  Hist,  des  Vaudois,  b.  i.  ch.  viii.  where  the  references  t» 
these  authors  are  given. 
I  Lwihorih''s  History  of  the  Inquisition,  Vol.  1.  ch.  viii. 
I  Mosheim''^  Eccles.  History,  cent.  xvi.  sect.  iii.  part  ii.  ch.  iii. 


SECT,  v.]  Origin  of  the  Inquisition.  85 

principles  and  general  character  of  that  denomination  of 
Christians  called  Catharists,  Paterines,  Albigenses,  or 
Waldenses;  and  I  should  now  proceed  to  a  more  detailed 
account  of  their  history,  subsequent  to  the  times  of  Peter 
Waldo,  and  especially  of  the  dreadful  persecutions  and 
complicated  suffering's  which  came  upon  them  in  conse- 
quence of  their  adherence  "  to  the  commandments  of  God 
and  the  faith  of  Jesus ;"  but  it  will  be  proper,  in  this  place, 
to  take  a  glance  at  the  origin,  the  establishment,  and  the 
operation  of  that  monstrous  system  of  cruelty  and  oppres- 
sion, gently  called  by  the  Catholics  "  the  holy  office," 
though  better  known  among  Protestants  by  the  name  of 
the  Inquisition.* 

It  was  not  until  about  the  year  1200,  the  papal  chair 
being  then  filled  by  Innocent  III.,  that  the  terms  "Inquisi- 
tion into  heresy,"  and  "Inquisitor,"  were  much,  if  at  all, 
heard  of.  The  bishops,  and  their  vicars,  being,  in  the 
Pope's  apprehension,  neither  so  fit  nor  so  diligent  in  the 
discharge  of  their  duty  respecting  the  extirpation  of  heresy 

*  As  I  shall  have  occasion,  in  the  subsequent  pages  of  this  work,  to 
make  frequent  references  to  "Liinborch's  History  of  the  Inquisition,"" 
it  is  proper  the  reader  should  be  apprised  of  the  deg-ree  of  credit  which 
is  due  to  that  author's  statements.  He  was  a  native  of  Amsterdam, 
born  ib33,  a  person  of  great  learning  and  talents,  which  raised  him 
to  the  rank  of  professor  of  divinity  in  that  city.  When  his  History 
of  the  Inquisition  first  came  over  to  England,  it  was  received  with  the 
highest  approbation  by  many  of  the  principal  nobility  and  clergj'.  In 
particular  Mr.  Locke,  that  incomparable  judge  of  men  and  hooks,  be- 
stowed the  highest  eulogiums  upon  it, — commended  it  for  its  method 
and  perspicuity,  and  the  authorities  by  which  it  is  so  abundantly  con- 
firmed,— and  pronounced  it  to  be  a  work  of  its  kind  absolutely  perfect. 
In  a  letter  to  Limborch  himself,  he  tells  him,  that  he  had  so  fully  ex- 
posed their  secret  acts  of  wickedness  and  cruelty,  that  if  the  Papist? 
had  any  remains  of  humanity  in  them,  they  must  be  ashamed  of  their 
horrid  tribunals,  in  which  every  thing  that  was  just  and  righteous  was 
so  monstrously  perverted;  and  that  it  was  proper  it  should  be  translated 
into  the  vulgar  language  of  every  nation,  that  the  meanest  people 
might  understand  tlie  antichristian  practices  of  that  execrable  court. 
The  papists  became  so  alarmed  at  its  publication,  that  the  cardinals, 
inquisitors  general  at  Rome,  condemned  it  by  an  edict,  and  forbade  the 
reading  of  it,  under  the  severest  penalties. 
Vol.  II.  N 


8G  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [ch.  v, 

as  he  thought  necessary,  two  new  orders  of  regulars  were 
at  this  time  instituted,  viz.  those  of  St.  Dominic  and  St. 
Francis,  both  zealously  devoted  to  the  church,  and  con- 
sisting of  persons  with  whom  the  advancement  of  Christi- 
anity, and  the  exaltation  of  the  pontifical  power,  were 
always  synonymous  terms.  To  St.  Dominic,  indeed,  the 
honour  of  first  suggesting  the  erection  of  this  extraordinary 
court  is  commonly  ascribed.  It  was  not,  however,  at  first, 
on  the  same  footing  on  which  it  afterwards  settled,  and  on 
which  it  has  since  continued.  The  first  inquisitors  were 
vested  with  a  double  capacity,  not  very  happily  conjoined 
in  the  same  persons;  one  was  that  of  preachers,  to  con- 
vince the  heretics  by  argument ;  the  other  that  of  per- 
secutors, to  instigate  magistrates  to  employ  every  possible 
method  of  extirpating  the  refractory — that  is,  all  who  were 
so  unreasonable  as  not  to  be  convinced  by  the  profound 
reasoning  of  those  merciless  fanatics  and  wretched  so- 
phisters. 

Dominic  descended  from  an  illustrious  Spanish  family 
of  the  name  of  Guzman,  was  the  son  of  Felix  and  Joanna, 
and  born  at  the  village  of  Cabaroga,  in  the  year  1170,  in 
the  diocess  of  Osma.  His  mother,  during  her  pregnancy, 
is  said  to  have  dreamed  that  she  was  with  child  of  a  pup, 
carrying  in  its  mouth  a  lighted  torch ;  that  after  its  birth, 
it  put  the  world  in  an  uproar  by  its  fierce  barkings,  and  at 
length  set  it  on  fire  by  the  torch  v/hich  it  carried  in  its 
mouth.  His  followers  have  interpreted  this  dream,  of  his 
doctrine,  by  which  he  enlightened  the  world ;  while  others, 
if  dreams  presage  any  thing,  think  that  the  torch  was  an 
emblem  of  that  fire  and  faggot  by  which  an  infinite  multi- 
tude of  persons  were  burnt  to  ashes.*  He  was  educated 
for  the  priesthood,  and  grew  up  the  most  fiery  and  the 
most  bloody  of  mortals.  Before  his  time  every  bishop  was 
a  sort  of  inquisitor  in  his  own  diocess;  but  Dominic  con- 
trived to  incorporate  a  body  of  men  independent  of  every 

*  Liinborch's  History  of  the  Inquisition,  Vol.  I.  ch.  x. 


SECT,  v.]   Origin  and  establishment  of  the  Inquisition.       87 

Jmman  being  except  the  Pope,  for  the  express  purpose  of 
ensnaring  and  destroying  Christians.  He  was  wdl ^ware 
that  however  loudly  the  priests  declaimed  against  heresy, 
the  lords  of  the  soil  would  not  suffer  them  to  butcher  their 
tenants  under  any  such  vain  pretences.  In  Biscay,  the 
priesthood  was  at  a  very  low  ebb,  in  the  eleventh  century, 
and  the  clergy  complained  to  the  King  of  Navarre  that  the 
nobility  and  gentry  treated  them  very  little  better  than 
their  slaves,  employing  them  chiefly  only  to  breed  up  and 
feed  their  dogs.  Nearly  a  century  after  that  time,  in  a 
neighbouring  state,  when  the  renowned  St.  Bernard  began, 
in  a  sermon  to  a  crowded  auditory,  to  inveigh  against 
heresy,  the  nobility  and  gentry  all  rose  up  and  left  the 
church,  and  the  people  followed  them.  The  preacher 
came  down  and  proceeded  to  the  market-place,  where  he 
attempted  to  harangue  on  the  same  subject;  but  the  popu- 
lace, wiser  than  the  preacher,  refused  to  hear  him,  and 
raised  such  a  clamour  as  drowned  his  voice,  and  compelled 
him  to  desist.  Only  one  expedient  remained, — Bernard 
recollected  that  Jesus  had  ordered  his  apostles,  in  certain 
cases,  to  shake  off  the  dust  of  their  feet,  and  as  though  he 
were  an  apostle,  and  had  received  the  same  command,  he 
affected  to  imitate  the  example.  He  left  the  city,  shook 
his  feet,  and  cursed  the  inhabitants  by  exclaiming,  "May 
the  Almighty  punish  this  city  with  a  drought."  Thus  far 
went  the  rage  of  Catholicism  at  the  beginning  of  the 
twelfth  century,  and  here  its  proud  waves  were  stayed; 
but  at  the  commencement  of  the  thirteenth,  about  the  year 
121.5,  Dominic  broke  down  the  dam,  and  covered  Tou- 
louse with  a  tide  of  despotism  stained  with  human  blood. 
Posterity  will  scarcely  believe  that  this  enemy  of  mankind, 
after  forming  a  race  like  himself,  first  called  preaching, 
and  then  Dominican,  friars,  died  in  his  bed,  was  canonized 
for  a  saint,  worshipped  as  a  divinity,  and  proposed  as  a 
model   of  piety   and  virtue    to    succeeding  generations.* 

*  Robinson's  Ecclesiastical  Researches,  p.  321. 


88 


History  of  the  Ckristian  Church.  [ch.  r. 


Never  said  Dr.  Geddes,  was  there  such  a  rabble  in  the 
worlc^Pa  Spanish  saint-roll.  The  first  class  of  them  are 
ideal  Feings,  or  pagans,  or  enthusiasts ;  but  the  last  are 
saints  with  a  vengeance,  for  all  their  steps  to  paradise  are 
marked  with  human  blood.* 

The  inquisitors,  at  first,  had  no  tribunals;  they  merely 
inquired  after  heretics,  their  number,  strength,  and  riches. 
When  they  had  detected  them,  they  informed  the  bishops, 
who,  at  that  time,  had  the  sole  power  of  judging  in  eccle- 
siastical afiairs,  urging  them  to  anathematize,  banish,  or 
otherwise  chastise  such  heretical  persons  as  they  brought 
before  tiiem.  It  is  true,  says  bishop  Burnet,  adverting  to 
these  times,  the  church  pretended  that  she  would  shed  no 
blood;  but  all  this  was  insufieiable  juggling.  For  the 
churchmen  declared  who  were  heretics,  and  the  secular  arm 
was  required  to  be  always  in  readiness  to  execute  their 
sentence.  This  was,not  only  claimed  by  the  bishops,  but 
it  was  made  a  part  of  their  oath  at  their  consecration, 
"that  they  should  oppose  and  persecute  heretics  to  the 
utmost  of  their  power."  Nor  were  they  contented  to  pro- 
ceed by  the  common  rules  of  justice,  upon  accusations  and 
witnesses;  but  all  forms  were  superseded,  and  by  virtue  of 
their  pastoral  authority,  as  if  that  had  been  given  them 
to  worry  their  sheep  and  not  to  feed  them,  they  objected 
articles  to  their  prisoners  upon  suspicion,  requiring  them 
to  purge  themselves  of  them  by  oath.  And  because  bishops 
were  not  perhaps  all  so  equally  zealous  and  cruel,  that 
bloody  man,  Dominic,  took  this  work  to  task,  and  his 
order  has  ever  since  furnished  the  world  with  a  set  of  in- 
quisitors, compared  to  whom  all  that  had  ever  dealt  in 
tortures,  in  any  former  times,  were  mere  bunglers. f 

Sometimes  they  excited  princes  to   arm  their   subjects 
against  them,  and  at  other  times  they  inflamed  the  rabble, 

*  Miscellaneous  Tracts,  Vol.  I. 

t  Bishop  Burnet's  Remarks  concerning-  Persecution,  prefixed  to  his 
Translation  of  Lactantius's  Relation  of  the  Deaths  of  the  Primitive 
Persecutors.    Amst.  1687.     p.  34,  &c. 


SECT,  v.]         Sanguinary  edicts  of  Frederic  II.  69 

whom  they  themselves  headed,  to  take  up  arms,  and  unite 
in  extirpating  them.  Such  as  they  couhl  prevail  upon  to 
devote  themselves  to  this  service,  obtained  the  title  of  cru- 
sadei's,  and  were  distinguished  by  a  cross  of  cloth  aflixed 
Jo  their  garments.  This  badge  operated  like  a  charm  upon 
the  deluded  populace,  wiio,  if  they  were  inflamed  before, 
now  became  inturiate,  and,  as  one  happily  expresses  it.  were 
raised  to  a  super-celestial  sort  .of  virtue,  which  defies  all 
the  restraints  of  reason  and  humanity.  Things  remained 
pretty  much  in  this  state  till  about  the  year  1250  ;  that  is, 
for  half  a  century. 

During  this  period  the  efforts  of  the  inquisitors  were 
greatly  assisted  by  the  emperor  of  the  Romans,  Frederic 
II.,  who  in  the  year  1224,  promulgated,  from  Padua,  four 
edicts  against  heretics,  of  the  most  ferocious  and  sanguinary 
description,  addressed  to  his  beloved  princes,  the  venerable 
archbishops,  bishops,  and  other  prelates  of  the  church  ;  to 
the  dukes,  marquisses,  earls,  barons,  governors,  judges, 
ministers,  officials,  and  all  other  his  faithful  subjects  through- 
out the  empire.  In  these  edicts  he  takes  the  inquisitors 
under  his  protection,  imposes  on  obstinate  heretics  the  pu-. 
nishment  of  being  burnt  to  death,  and  of  perpetual  impri- 
sonment on  the  penitent,  committing  the  cognizance  of  the 
crime  to  the  ecclesiastical,  and  the  condemnation  of  the 
criminals,  as  well  as  the  infliction  of  the  punishment,  to 
the  secular  judges.  As  the  object  of  all  these  bloody 
edicts  was  chiefly  to  destroy  the  Waldenses  or  Albigenses, 
it  may  not  be  foreign  to  our  purpose  to  give  a  specimen  of 
the  spirit  that  breathes  throughout  the  whole  of  them. 

"  The  care  of  the  imperial  government,"  says  his  Majesty, 
"  committed  to  us  from  heaven,  and  over  which  we  preside, 
demands  the  material  sword,  which  is  given  to  us  separately 
from  the  priesthood,  against  the  enemies  of  the  faith,  and 
for  the  extirpation  of  heretical  pravity,  that  we  should 
pursue  with  judgment  and  justice,  those  vipers  and  perfi- 
dious children  who  insult  the  Lord  and  his  church  as  though 
they  would  tear  out  the  very  bowels  of  their  mother.     We 


90  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [ch.  v. 

shall  not  suffer  these  wretches  to  live  who  infect  the  world 
b}'  their  seducing  doctrines,  and  who,  being  themselves 
corrupted,  more  grievously  taint  the  flock  of  the  faithful." 
He  then  proceeds  to  denounce  the  most  dreadful  sentences 
against  all  persons  convicted  of  heresy,  against  all  who 
may  be  employed  as  advocates  for  them,  and  against  all 
who  may  be  detected  in  receiving  and  abetting  them,  con- 
demning their  persons,  disinheriting  their  children,  and  con- 
fiscating their  property. 

The  second  edict,  though  not  less  sanguinary,  was  more 
definite  in  its  object,  since  it  professes  to  have  directly  in 
view  the  destruction  of  the  sect  of  the  Paterines,  of  whom, 
it  will  be  recollected,  a  particular  account  has  been  given 
in  a  former  section.  The  reader  shall  have  a  specimen. 
"  The  heretics  are  endeavouring  to  rend  the  seamless  coat 
of  our  God,  and  raging  with  deceitful  words,  strive  to  di- 
vide the  unity  of  the  invisible  faith  itself,  and  to  separate 
the  sheep  from  the  care  of  St.  Peter,  to  whom  they  were 
committed  by  the  good  Shepherd,  to  be  fed.  These  are 
the  ravenous  wolves  within,  who  put  on  the  meekness  of 
the  sheep,  that  they  may  the  better  enter  into  the  Lord's 
sheepfold.  These  are  the  worst  angels — the  sons  of  naugh- 
thiess,  of  the  father  of  wickedness — appointed  to  deceive 
simple  souls.  These  are  adders  who  deceive  the  doves — 
serpents  which  crawl  in  private,  and  under  the  sweetness 
of  honey,  vomit  poison;  so  that  whilst  they  pretend  to  ad- 
minister the  food  of  hfe,  they  sting  with  tJieir  tail,  and 
mingle  the  most  bitter  poison  into  the  cup  of  death. — They 
call  themselves  Paterines,  after  the  example  of  the  mar- 
tyrs.* These  miserable  Paterines,  who  do  not  believe  the 
eternal  Trinity,   by  their  comphcated  wickedness   offend 

*  "  Pateriinfs,  after  the  example  of  the  martyrs.''''  Notwithstanding 
llie  obscurity  n'hich  rests  upon  the  etj  molog-y  of  this  name,  does  it  not 
appear  evident  from  this  Imperial  Edict,  that  it  was  then  understood  to 
have  been  conferred  on  these  people  on  account  of  the  sufferings  to 
which  tliey  were  exposed — and  if  so,  may  it  not  be  derived  from  the 
Latin  verb  Puti,  ■■'  to  suffer?" 


SECT,  v.]         Sanguinary  edicts  of  Frederic  IT.  91 

against  three,  viz.  God,  their  neighbour,  and  themselves. 
Against  God,  because  they  do  not  acknowledge  the  Son 
and  the  true  faith — they  deceive  their  neighbours,  whilst 
under  the  pretence  of  spiritual  food,  they  minister  the  de- 
lights of  heretical  pravity — but  their  cruelty  to  themselves 
is  yet  more  savage,  since  besides  the  loss  of  their  im- 
mortal souls,  they  expose  their  bodies  to  a  cruel  death, 
being  prodigal  of  their  lives  and  fearless  of  destruction, 
which  by  acknowledging  the  true  faith  they  might  escape, 
and,  which  is  horrible  to  express,  their  survivors  are  not 
terrified  by  their  example.  Against  such  enemies  to  God 
and  man  we  cannot  contain  our  indignation,  nor  refuse  to 
punish  them  with  the  sword  of  just  vengeance,  but  shall 
pursue  them  with  so  much  the  greater  vigour,  as  they  ap- 
pear to  spread  wider  the  crimes  of  their  superstition,  to  the 
most  evident  injury  of  the  Christian  faith,  and  of  the  church 
of  Rome,  which  is  adjudged  to  be  the  head  of  all  other 
churches."  The  edict  then  proceeds  to  denounce  every 
one  convicted  of  belonging  to  the  sect  of  the  Paterines,  as 
guilty  of  the  crime  of  high  treason — to  be  punished  with 
the  loss  of  life  and  of  goods,  and  their  memory  rendered 
infamous.  It  enjoins  that  strict  inquiry  be  made  by  the 
officials,  after  all  such  as  commit  those  crimes,  and  wher- 
ever the  smallest  suspicion  exists,  that  such  be  examined  by 
the  ecclesiastics  and  prelates,  and  if  found  to  err  in  one 
point  from  the  catholic  faith,  they  are,  in  case  of  obstinacy 
by  that  edict  condemned  to  suffer  death, — to  be  committed 
to  the  punishment  of  the  flames,  and  to  be  burned  alive  in 
public  view — forbidding  any,  on  pain  of  incurring  the  im- 
perial indignation,  to  intercede  for  such  persons. 

The  third  law  is  as  follows — "  We  condemn  the  receivers, 
accomplices,  and  abettors  of  the  Paterines,  to  forfeiture  of 
their  goods  and  perpetual  banishment,  who  by  their  care  to 
save  others,  ha\e  no  fear  or  regard  for  themselves.  Let 
not  their  childrpn  be  in  any  wise  admitted  to  honours,  but 
always  accornted  infamous,  nor  let  them  be  allowed  as  wit- 
nesses in  any  causes  in  which  infamous  persons  are  refused. 


92  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [cH.  r. 

But  if  the  children  of  those  who  favour  the  Paterines  shall 
discover  any  one  of  them,  so  that  he  shall  be  convicted, 
let  thein,  as  the  reward  of  their  acknowledgment  of  the 
faith,  be  entirely  restored  by  our  imperial  favour,  to  their 
forfeited  honour  and  estate." 

In  the  fourth  edict  his  Imperial  Majesty  is  pleased  thus 
to  proceed, — "  We  condemn  to  perpetual  infamy,  withdraw 
our  protection  from,  and  put  under  our  ban,*  the  Puritans, 
Paterines,  Leonists,  Arnoldists,  Passagines,  Josephines, 
Albigenses,  Waldenses,  8ic.,  and  all  other  heretics  of  both 
sexes,  and  of  whatsoever  name  ;  and  ordain  that  their  goods 
may  be  so  confiscated  as  that  their  children  may  never  in- 
herit them,  since  it  is  much  more  heinous  to  offend  the  eter- 
nal than  the  temporal  majesty."  It  then  proceeds  to  con- 
demn all  suspected  persons,  as  heretics,  if  they  do  not  purge 
themselves  within  a  year — commands  the  officials  to  ex- 
terminate heretics  from  all  places  subject  to  them — orders 
that  the  lands  of  the  barons  shall  be  seized  by  the  Catho- 
lics, if  they  do  not  purge  them  from  heretics,  within  a  year 
after  proper  admonition,  and  ordains  various  punishments 
against  all  the  favourers  of  heretics — thus  closing  the 
dreadful  catalogue.  "  Furthermore,  we  put  under  our  ban 
those  who  believe,  receive,  defend,  and  favour  heretics  ; 
ordaining  that  if  any  person  shall  refuse  to  give  satisfaction 
within  a  year  after  his  excommunication,  he  shall  be,  ipso 
jure,  infamous,  and  not  admitted  to  any  kind  of  public 
offices — let  him  be  intestable,  and  let  him  not  have  the 
power  of  making  a  will,  nor  of  receiving  any  thing  by  suc- 
cession or  inheritance.  Moreover,  let  no  one  answer  for 
Iiim  in  any  affair,  but  let  him  be  obliged  to  answer  others. 
If  he  should  be  a  judge,  let  his  sentence  be  of  no  effect, 
nor  any  causes  be  heard  before  him.  If  an  advocate,  let 
iiim  never  be  admitted  to  plead  in  any  one's  defence.  If 
a  notaiy,  let  no  instruments  made  by  him  be  valid.  We 
add  that  a  heretic  may  be   convicted  by  a  heretic,  and 

*  For  the  meaniDg  of  this,  the  reader  may  revert  to  Vol.  I.  ch.  iv. 


SECT,  v.]  Progress  of  the  Inquisition.  93 

that  the  houses  of  the  Paterines,  their  abettors  and  fa- 
vourers, either  where  they  have  taught,  or  where  they  have 
laid  hands  on  others,  shall  be  destroyed,  never  to  be  re- 
built."*—Da^e^Z  at  Pacha,  Feb.  22,  1224. 

Any  thing  more  infamous  than  these  edicts,  in  the  way 
of  spiritual  tyranny,  it  would  be  difficult  to  imagine ;  and 
although,  by  reason  of  the  circumstances  of  the  times  and 
the  diflerences  which  soon  arose  between  the  Pope  and 
the  Emperor,  they  had  not  all  that  effect  which  might  have 
been  expected,  it  is,  nevertheless,  certain  that  the  Inquisi- 
tion was  greatly  promoted  by  them.  They  were  approved 
and  confirmed  by  the  Pope,  and  inserted  in  his  bulls,  and 
in  process  of  time,  the  persecuting  spirit  which  pervades 
them,  came  gradually  to  be  incorporated  into  the  laws  of 
almost  every  country  in  Europe. 

After  the  death  of  Frederic,  which  happened  about  the 
middle  of  the  century.  Pope  Innocent  IV.  remaining  sole 
arbiter  of  the  affairs  of  Lombardy  and  other  parts  of  Italy, 
set  himself  diligently  to  extirpate  heresy,  which  of  late  had 
exceedingly  increased ;  and  considering  the  labour  which 
had  been  employed  in  his  service  by  the  Franciscan  and 
Dominican  friars,  whose  zeal,  unrestrained  by  either  respect 
of  persons  or  the  fear  of  dangers — by  any  regard  to  justice 
or  the  feelings  of  humanity,  had  recommended  them  highly 
to  the  pontiff,  he  cheerfully  availed  himself  of  their  ardour 
to  second  his  efforts. 

Preaching  was  found  of  little  avail,  and  even  the  enlist- 
ing of  crusaders  and  inflicting  military  execution  was  sus- 
pended for  the  sake  of  erecting  in  different  countries  stand- 
ing tribunals,  armed  with  tremendous  authority,  but  charged 
solely  with  the  purgation  of  heretical  pravity.f 

'•'-  The  reader  will  find  these  Edicts  entire  in  the  first  vol.  of  Lim- 
borcli's  History  of  the  Inquisition,  ch.  xii. 

f  The  phrase  "heretical  pravity,"  will  sound  rather  uncouth  to  mo- 
dern ears  that  have  not  been  accustomed  to  the  jargon  of  the  catholic 
writers,  but  the  reader  should  be  told  that  it  is  the  usual  slang  of  those 
writers  for  denoting-  the  icickedness  of  thinking  differently  from  the 
■hurch  of  Rome. 

Vor.   H.  O 


94  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [ch.  v. 

To  the  establishment  of  these  novel  tribunals  there  were, 
however,  two  objections  started.  The  first,  that  it  was  an 
encroachment  on  the  authority  of  the  ordinary  bishop  of 
the  place,  and  the  second  that  it  was  unprecedented  to  ex- 
clude the  civil  magistrate  from  the  trial  and  punishment  of 
heretics,  on  whom  it  hath  hitherto  devolved.  To  remove 
the  first  of  these  difficulties,  an  expedient  was  soon  devised 
— the  Pope  enacted  that  the  tribunal  should  consist  of  the 
inquisitor,  with  the  bishop  of  the  place  also,  but  so  mana- 
ging the  afl^air,  at  the  same  time,  that  the  inquisitor  was 
not  only  to  be  the  principal,  but,  in  reality,  every  thing, 
and  leaving  the  bishop  little  more  than  the  name  of  a 
judge.  To  remedy  the  second  inconvenience,  and  to  give 
at  least  the  appearance  of  authority  to  the  secular  powers, 
they  were  allowed  to  appoint  the  subordinate  officers  to  the 
inquisition,  yet  still  subject  to  the  approbation  of  the  inqui- 
sitors J  they  were  also  allowed  to  send  with  the  inquisitor 
when  he  should  go  into  the  countr},  one  of  their  assessors, 
whom  the  inquisitors  should  choose.  Of  all  the  property 
belonging  to  heretics  which  they  should  be  enabled  to  con- 
fiscate, a  third  part  was  to  go  to  the  community,  in  return 
for  which,  the  community  was  to  defray  the  whole  expense 
of  keeping  the  prisons,  and  supporting  the  prisoners.  The 
infliction  of  the  legal  punishment  was  also  vested  in  the  ma- 
gistrate, after  trial  and  condemnation  by  the  inquisitors ; 
but  that  was  a  matter  so  much  of  course,  and  which  he  well 
knew  he  could  not  avoid  executing,  without  incurring  the 
vengeance  of  the  church,  that,  in  fact,  it  only  converted  him 
into  a  spiritual  judge's  executioner  :  and  thus,  to  use  the 
language  of  Dr.  Jortin,  "the  priest  Avas  the  judge,  and  the 
king  was  the  hangman."* 

Such  was  the  footing  on  which  "  the  holy  office"  was 
placed  in  die  year  1251,  in  the  ecclesiastical  states  of  Italy, 
which  were  mider  the  Pope's  immediate  inspection.  It  was 
afterwards  extended  to  more  distant  provinces,  and  every 

•  *  Remarks,  Vol.  III.  p.  303. 


SECT,  v.]       Opposition^  SfC,  to  the  Inquisition.  cc. 

where  intrusted  to  tlie  management  of  Dominican  friars. 
Thirty-one  rules  or  articles,  defining  their  jurisdiction  and 
powers,  and  regulating  the  procedure  of  this  spiritual  court 
of  judicature,  were  devised ;  and  all  rulers  and  magistrates 
were  commanded,  by  a  papal  bull,  issued  for  the  purpose, 
to  give,  under  pain  of  excommunication,  the  most  punctual 
obedience,  and  every  possible  assistance  to  tliis  holy  court. 

It  should,  however,  be  remarked,  that  the  attempts  which 
were  made  to  introduce  the  inquisition,  did  not  prove  equal- 
ly successful  in  all  lloman  Catholic  states,  nor  even  in  the 
greater  part  of  them.  It  was  never  in  the  power  of  the 
Pope  to  obtain  the  establishment  of  this  tribunal  in  many 
of  the  most  populous  countries  that  were  subject  to  the  Sec 
of  Rome.  In  France  it  was  early  introduced,  but  soon  af 
lerwards  expelled,  in  such  a  manner,  as  effectually  to  pre- 
clude a  renewal  of  the  attempt.  The  difficulties  arose 
partly  from  the  conduct  of  the  inquisitors,  their  inordinate 
severity,  their  unbounded  extortion  and  avarice,  and  the 
propensity  they  showed,  on  every  occasion,  to  extend,  be- 
yond measure,  their  own  authority  ;  insomuch  that  they 
were  making  rapid  strides  to  engross,  under  one  pretext  or 
another,  all  the  criminal  jurisdiction  of  the  magistrate  ; 
for,  under  the  head  of  heresy,  they  insisted,  were  included^ 
infidelity,  blasphem}'^,  perjury,  sorcery,  poisoning,  bigamy, 
usury !  Another  reason  was,  that  the  tribunal  Avas  found 
to  be  so  expensive,  that  the  community  refused  to  sustain 
the  burden  of  it.  Nor  has  it  been  alike  severe  ia  every 
place  into  which  it  has  been  introduced.  In  Spain  and  Por- 
tugal this  scourge  and  disgrace  to  humanity  has  for  centu- 
ries glared,  monster-like,  with  its  most  frightful  aspect — in 
Rome  it  has  been  much  more  tolerable.  Papal  avarice 
has  served  to  counterbalance  papal  tyranny.  The  wealth 
of  modern  Rome  has  arisen  very  much  from  the  constant 
resort  of  strangers  from  all  countries  and  of  all  denomina- 
tions, and  chiefly  those  of  the  higher  ranks.  Nothing  could 
have  more  effectually  checked  that  resort,  and  of  course 
the  influx  of  riches  into  that  capital,  than  such  a  horrid  tri- 


96  History  of  the  Christiau  Church.  [ch.  v. 

bunal  as  that  which  existed  at  Lisbon  and  Madrid,  and 
which  diffused  a  terror  that  was  felt  to  the  utmost  confines 
of  those  unhappy  kingdoms. 

Exclusive  of  the  cruel  punishments  inflicted  by  the  holy 
office,  says  a  late  writer,  it  may  be  truly  aflirmed,  that  the 
inquisition  is  a  school  of  vice.  There  the  artful  judge, 
grown  old  in  habits  of  subtlety,  along  with  the  sly  secre- 
tary, practises  his  cunning  in  interrogating  a  prisoner  to 
fix  a  charge  of  heresy.  Now  he  fawns,  and  then  he  frowns ; 
now  soothes,  and  then  looks  dark  and  angry;  sometimes 
affects  to  pity  and  to  pray,  at  other  times  insults  and 
bullies,  and  talks  of  racks  and  dungeons,  flames,  and  the 
damnation  of  hell.  One  while  he  lays  his  hand  upon  his 
heart,  and  sheds  tears,  and  promises,  and  protests  he  de- 
sires not  the  death  of  a  sinner,  but  would  rather  that  he 
would  turn  and  live;  and  all  that  he  can  do  he  will  do  for 
the  discharge,  aye,  for  the  preferment  of  his  imprisoned 
brother.  Another  while  he  discovers  himself  deaf  as  a  rock, 
false  as  the  wind,  and  cruel  as  the  poison  of  asps.* 

In  no  country  has  the  operation  of  this  dreadful  court  of 
spiritual  despotism  been  more  strikingly  exemplified  than 
in  Spain.  The  subject  has  been  placed  in  the  most  in- 
structive point  of  view  by  two  accurate  and  elegant  modern 
historians, f  and  their  reflections  upon  it  are  so  just  and 
natural,  that  as  it  cannot  be  unacceptable  to  the  reader,  I 
shall  give  the  substance  of  what  they  have  said. 

The  court  of  inquisition,  which,  although  it  was  not  the 
parent,  has  been  the  nurse  and  guardian  of  ignorance  and 
superstition  in  every  kingdom  into  which  it  has  been  ad- 
mitted, was  introduced  into  Spain  by  Ferdinand  and  Isa- 
bella, and  was  principally  intended  to  prevent  the  relapse 
of  the  Jews  and  Moors,  who  had  been  converted,  or  who 
pretended  to  be  converted,  to  the  faith  of  the  Church  of 


*  Robinson's  Ecclesiastical  Researches,  p.  277. 
t  Watson's  History  of  Philip  II.  kin^  of  Spain,  and  Robertson's 
History  of  Charles  V, 


SECT,  v.]       Dreadful  effects  of  the  Inquisition,  97 

Rome.  Its  jurisdiction,  however,  was  not  confined  to  the 
Jews  and  Moors,  but  extended  to  all  those  who  in  their 
practice  or  opinions  diflered  from  the  established  church. 
In  the  united  kingdoms  of  Castille  and  Arragon,  there 
were  eighteen  different  inquisitorial  courts,  having  each  of 
them  its  counsellors,  termed  apostolical  inquisitors;  its 
secretaries,  Serjeants,  and  other  officers;  and  besides  these 
there  were  tiventy  thousand  familiars  dispersed  throughout 
the  kingdom,  who  acted  as  spies  and  informers,  and  were 
employed  to  apprehend  all  suspected  persons,  and  commit 
them  for  trial,  to  the  prisons  which  belonged  to  the  inqui- 
sition. By  these  familiars,  persons  were  seized  on  bare 
suspicion,  and  in  contradiction  to  the  established  rules  of 
equity,  they  were  put  to  the  torture,  tried  and  condemned 
by  the  inquisitors,  without  being  confronted,  either  with 
their  accusers,  or  with  the  witnesses  on  whose  evidence 
they  were  condemned.  The  punishments  inflicted  were 
more  or  less  dreadful,  according  to  the  caprice  and  humour 
of  the  judges.  The  unhappy  victims  were  either  strangled 
or  committed  to  the  flames,  *or  loaded  with  chains,  and 
shut  up  in  dungeons  during  life — their  effects  confiscated, 
and  their  families  stigmatized  with  infamy. 

This  institution  was,  no  doubt,  well  calculated  to  pro- 
duce an  uniformity  of  religious  profession,  but  it  had  a 
tendency  also  to  destroy  the  sweets  of  social  life;  to  banish 
all  freedom  of  thought  and  speech ;  to  disturb  men's  minds 
with  the  most  disquieting  apprehensions,  and  to  produce 
the  most  intolerable  slavery,  b}^  reducing  persons  of  all 
ranks  in  life  to  a  state  of  abject  dependence  upon  priests; 
whose  integrity  were  it  even  greater  than  that  of  other 
men,  as  in  every  false  profession  of  religion  it  is  less,  must 
have  been  corrupted  by  the  uncontrolled  authority  which 
they  were  allowed  to  exercise.  By  this  tribunal  a  visible 
change  was  wrought  in  the  temper  of  the  people,  and  re- 
serve, distrust,  and  jealous}',  became  the  distinguishing 
characteristics  of  a  Spaniard.  It  confirmed  and  perpetuated 
the  reign  of  ignorance  and  superstition;  inflamed  the  rage 


98  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [ch.  v. 

of  religious  bigotiy,  and  by  the  cruel  spectacles  to  which, 
in  the  execution  of  its  decrees,  it  familiarized  the  people,  it 
nourished  in  them  that  ferocious  spirit,  which  in  the  Ne- 
therlands and  America  they  manifested  by  deeds  that  have 
fixed  an  indelible  reproach  upon  the  Spanish  name. 

Authors  of  undoubted  credit  affirm,  and  without  the 
least  exaggeration,  that  millions  of  persons  have  been  ruined 
by  this  horrible  court.  IVIoors  vvei'e  banished,  a  million  at 
a  time.  Six  or  eight  hundred  thousand  Jews  were  driven 
away  at  once,  and  their  immense  riches  seized  by  their  ac- 
cusers, and  distributed  among  their  persecutors,  while 
thousands  dissembled,  and  professed  themselves  Christians 
only  to  be  harassed  in  future.  Heretics  of  all  ranks  and 
of  various  denominations  were  imprisoned  and  burnt,  or 
fied  into  other  countries.  The  gloom  of  despotism  over- 
shadowed all  Spain.  The  people  at  first  reasoned,  and 
rebelled,  and  murdei-ed  the  inquisitors — the  aged  murmured 
and  died — tlie  next  generation  lluttcrcd  and  complained, 
but  their  successors  were  completely  tamed  by  education ; 
and  the  Spaniards  are  now  mnned  up  by  their  priests  to 
shudder  at  the  thought  of  thinking  for  themselves.  That 
lionour  to  his  country  and  of  human  nature,  the  late  Mr. 
Howard,  says,  when  he  saw  the  inquisition  at  Valladolid, 
"  I  could  not  but  observe,  that  even  the  sight  of  it  struck 
terror  into  the  common  people  as  they  passed.  It  is  styled, 
(he  adds,)  by  a  monstrous  abuse  of  words,  '  the  holy  apos- 
tolic court  of  inquisition.' " 

A  simple  narrative  of  the  proceedings  of  the  inquisition 
has  shocked  the  world,  and  the  cruelty  of  it  has  become 
proverbial.  Nothing  ever  displayed  so  fully  to  the  eyes 
of  mankind  the  spirit  and  temper  of  the  papal  religion. 
"Christians,"  says  Tertullian,  "were  often  called,  not 
Christian!,  but  Chrestiani,  from  the  gentleness  of  their 
manners,  and  the  sweetness  of  their  tempers."  Jesus  him- 
self was  the  essence  of  mildness.  His  apostles  were  gentle, 
even  as  a  nurse  that  cherisheth  her  children.  But  what  an 
awful  contrast  is  exhibited  in  this  horrid  court  of  papal 


SECT,  v.]  The  spirit  of  the  Inquisition.  9*> 

inquisition.  Let  us  liear  the  description  which  Voltaire, 
a  very  competent  witness,  gives  of  it.  "Their  form  of  pro- 
ceeding," sa3S  he,  " is  an  infalhble  way  to  destroy  whom- 
soever the  inquisitors  wish.  The  prisoners  are  not  con- 
fronted with  the  accuser  oif  informer.  Nor  is  there  any 
informer  or  witness  who  is  not  listened  to.  A  public  con- 
vict, a  notorious  malefactor,  an  infamous  person,  a  common 
prostitute,  a  child,  are  in  the  holy  office,  though  no  where 
else,  credible  accusers  and  witnesses.  Even  the  son  may 
depose  against  his  fatiier,  the  wife  against  her  husband." 
The  wretched  prisoner  is  no  more  made  acquainted  with 
his  crime  than  witli  his  accuser,  and  were  he  told  the  one  it 
might  possibly  lead  him  to  guess  the  other.  To  avoid 
this,  he  is  compelled,  by  tedious  confinement  in  a  noisome 
dungeon,  where  he  never  sees  a  face  but  the  jailor's,  and 
is  not  permitted  the  use  of  either  books  or  pen  and  ink — 
or  should  confinement  alone  not  be  sufficient,  he  is  com- 
pelled, by  the  most  excruciating  tortures,  to  inform  agahist 
himself,  to  discover  and  confess  the  crime  laid  to  his  charge, 
of  which  he  is  often  ignorant.  This  procedure,"  says 
our  historian,  "  unheard  of  till  the  institution  of  this  court, 
makes  the  whole  kingdom  tremble.  Suspicion  reigns  hi 
every  breast.  Friendship  and  quietness  are  at  an  end. 
The  brother  dreads  his  brother,  the  father  his  son.  Hence 
taciturnity  is  become  the  characteristic  of  a  nation,  endued 
with  all  the  vivacity  natural  to  the  inhabitants  of  a  warm 
and  fruitful  climate.  To  this  tribunal  we  must  likewise 
impute  that  profound  ignorance  of  sound  philosophy  in 
which  Spain  lies  buried,  whilst  Germany,  England,  France, 
and  even  Italy,  have  discovered  so  many  truths,  and  en- 
larged the  sphere  of  our  knowledge.  Never  is  human 
nature  so  debased,  as  where  ignorance  is  armed  with 
power."* 

But  these  melancholy   effects  of  the  Inquisition   are   a 
trifle  when  compared  with  those  public  sacrifices,   called 

*  Voltaire's  Universal  Historv,  Vol.  II.  ch,  cxviji 


100  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [ch.  v. 

Auto  da  Fe,  or  Acts  of  Faith,  and  to  the  shocking  barbari- 
ties that  precede  them.  A  priest  in  a  white  surplice,  or  a 
monk  who  has  vowed  meekness  and  humility,  causes  his 
fellow-creatures  to  be  pat  to  the  torture  in  a  dismal  dun- 
geon. A  stage  is  erected  in  the  public  market-place, 
where  the  condemned  prisoners  are  conducted  to  the  stake, 
attended  with  a  train  of  monks  and  religious  confraternities. 
They  sing  psalms,  say  mass,  and  butcher  mankind.  Were 
a  native  of  Asia  to  come  to  Madrid  upon  a  day  of  an  exe- 
cution of  this  sort,  it  would  be  impossible  for  him  to  tell, 
whether  it  were  a  rejoicing,  a  religious  feast,  a  sacrifice,  or 
a  massacre  ;  and  yet  it  is  all  this  together  !  The  kings, 
whose  presence  alone  in  other  cases  is  the  harbinger  of 
mercy,  assist  at  this  spectacle  uncovered,  seated  lower  than 
the  inquisitors,  and  are  spectators  of  their  subjects  expiring 
in  the  flames.  The  Spaniards  reproached  Montezuma 
with  immolating  his  captives  to  his  gods  ;  what  would  he 
have  said,  had  he  beheld  an  "  Auto  da  Fe  ?" 

It  is  but  doing  justice,  however,  to  many  Roman  Catho- 
lic states,  and  to  thousands  of  individuals  belonging  to  that 
church,  to  say,  that  they  abhor  this  infernal  tribunal,  al- 
most as  much  as  do  Protestants  themselves.  This  is  suffi- 
ciently evinced  by  the  tumults  which  were  excited  in  several 
parts  of  Italy,  Milan,  and  Naples  in  particular,  and  after- 
wards in  France,  as  well  as  in  other  catholic  countries,  by 
the  attempts  that  were  made  to  introduce  it  at  first,  and  by 
its  actual  expulsion  from  some  places,  where,  to  all  ap- 
pearance, it  was  firmly  established.  It  is,  indeed,  matter 
of  regret  that  any  among  the  members  of  that  church 
should  ,  have  their  minds  so  enslaved  by  prejudice,  as  to 
imagine,  for  a  moment,  that  a  despotism  which  required 
for  its  support  such  diabolical  engines,  could  possibly  be 
of  heavenly  origin.  There  is  something  in  the  very  con- 
stitution of  this  tribunal  so  monstrously  unjust,  so  exorbi- 
tantly cruel,  that  it  must  ever  excite  one's  astonishment, 
that  the  people  of  any  country  should  have  permitted  its 
existence  among  them.     How  they  could  have  inconsis- 


SECT.  VI.]  The  Alhigenses  in  France.  101 

tency  to  acknowledge  a  power  to  be  from  God  which  has 
found  it  necessary  to  recur  to  expedients  so  manifestly 
from  hell,  so  subversive  of  every  principle  of  soiuid  mo- 
rality and  rehgion,  can  be  regarded  only  as  one  of  those 
contradictions,  for  which  human  characters,  both  indivi- 
duals and  nations,  are  often  so  remarkable.  The  wisdom 
that  is  from  above  is  pare,  peaceable,  gentle,  and  easy  to 
be  entreated,  i'lill  of  mercy  and  good  fruits,  without  partia- 
lity, and  without  hypocrisy.  But  the  policy  of  Rome,  as 
displayed  in  the  Inquisition,  is  so  strikingly  characterized 
by  that  wisdom  which  is  earthly,  sensual,  and  devilish,  that 
the  person  who  needs  to  be  convinced  of  it,  seems  to  be 
altogether  beyond  the  power  of  argument.  Never  were 
two  systems  more  diam.etrically  opposed  in  their  spirit,  their 
maxims,  and  effects,  than  primitive  Christianity,  and  the 
religion  of  modern  Rome ;  nor  do  heaven  and  hell,  Christ 
and  Belial,  exhibit  to  our  view  a  more  glaring  contrast.* 


szscTzoir  VI. 

History  of  the  persecutions  of  the  Alhigenses  in  France, 
during  the  thirteenth  century. 

The  flight  of  Peter  Waldo  from  Lyons,  and  the  conse- 
quent dispersion  of  his  flock  throughout  the  south  of  France, 
took  place  in  the  year  1163.  As  nothing  lay  nearer  the 
hearts  of  the  popes,  than  an  anxious  desire  to  crush  in  its 
infancy  every  doctrine  that  opposed  their  exorbitant  power, 
they  were  seldom  remiss  in  adopting  such  measures  as  ap- 
peared to  them  best  calculated  for  promoting  that  favourite 
object.  Accordingly  we  find  that  in  the  same  year  (1163) 
a  synod  was  convened  at  Tours,  a  city  of  France,  at 
which  all  the  bishops  and  priests  in  the  country  of  Tou- 

*  See  Father  Paul  Sarpi's  History  of  the  council  of  Trent ;  and  Dr. 
G.  Campbell's  Lectures  an  Ecclesiastical  History. 
Vol.  II.  P 


102  History  of  the  Christian  Church.         [cH.  v, 

louse,  were  strictly  enjoined  "to  take  care,  and  to  forbid, 
inider  pain  of  excommunication,  every  person  from  presum- 
ing to  give  reception,  or  the  least  assistance  to  the  followers 
of  this  heresj' ;  to  have  no  dealings  with  them  in  buying  or 
selling,  that  thus  being  deprived  of  the  common  necessaries 
of  life,  they  might  be  compelled  to  repent  of  the  evil  of 
their  way."  And,  further,  that  "  whosoever  should  dare 
to  contravene  this  order,  should  be  excommunicated  as  a 
partner  with  them  in  their  guilt."  And,  lastly,  that  "  as 
many  of  them  as  could  be  found,  should  be  imprisoned  by 
the  catholic  princes,  and  punished  with  the  forfeiture  of  all 
their  substance."* 

It  is  very  natural  to  suppose  that  these  cruel  precau- 
tionary proceedings,  if  followed  up  with  much  rigour,  must 
drive  the  friends  of  Waldo  to  seek  an  asylum  in  more  hos- 
pitable climes  ;  and,  of  course,  many  of  them  took  refuge 
in  the  valleys  of  Piedmont,  while  others  proceeded  to  Bo- 
hemia, and  not  a  ^e\v  migrated  into  Spain.  Hence,  in  the 
year  1194,  in  consequence  of  some  of  the  Waldenses  com- 
ing into  the  province  of  Arragon,  King  Tldefonsus  issued 
a  severe  and  bloody  edict,  by  which  "  he  banished  them 
from  his  kingdom  and  all  his  dominions,  as  enemies  of  the 
cross  of  Christ,  profaners  of  the  Christian  religion,  and 
public  enemies  to  himself  and  kingdom. "f 

Yet,  notwithstanding  these  inhuman  proceedings,  both 
in  France  and  Spain,  "  so  mightjly  grew  the  word  of  God 
and  prevailed,"  that  in  the  year  1200,  both  the  city  of 
Toulouse,  and  eighteen  other  principal  towns  in  Langue- 
doc,  Provence,  and  Dauphine,  were  filled  with  Waldenses 
and  Albigenses.  This,  no  doubt,  was  owing,  under  God, 
to  the  protection  that  was  afforded  them  by  the  Counts  of 
Toulouse  and  Foix,  the  Viscount  of  Beziers,  and  several 
other  of  the  French  nobility.  It  can  excite  no  surprise, 
'  therefore,  that  their  numbers  and,  growing  influence  should 


*  Baronius's  Annals,  sect.  18.  n.  4.  quoted  in  Limborch,  ch.  ix. 
f  Bzovius,  A.  1199.  sect.  38.  in  Limborch,  ch.  ix. 


SECT.  VI.]  The  Alhigenses  persecuted.  103 

spread  universal  alarm  at  Rome,  and  that  the  most  spirited 
exertions  should  be  determined  on  Tor  subduing  them. 

The  first  measures  resorted  to  were  the  issuing  of  papal 
canons  and  sentences  of  excommunication.  Not  only  waw 
the  whole  sect  anatheniati/.ed,  but  also  every  one  who 
should  receive  them  into  their  houses,  and  protect  them,  or 
hold  any  intercourse  with  them.  The  archbishops  and 
bishops  of  Guienne  and  other  provinces  of  France,  as  well 
as  the  clergy  throughout  their  different  diocesses,  were  en- 
joined to  banish  the  Waldenses,  Puritans,  and  Paterines 
from  their  territories  ;  to  mark  them,  and  take  care  that 
they  should  neither  enjoy  Christian  privileges  while  living, 
nor  burial  when  dead.  Kings,  princes,  and  magistrates, 
were  called  upon  to  support  and  assist  the  Catholic  clergy 
with  the  power  of  the  sword  ;  to  confiscate  the  property, 
and  raze  to  the  foundation  the  houses,  of  these  heretics, 
and  of  all  that  countenanced  them.* 

To  give  efficacy  to  these  measures,  Pope  Innocent  III. 
sent  two  of  his  legates  into  France,  viz.  the  famous  Reine- 
Rius,  (whom  I  have  already  had  frequent  occasion  to  men- 
tion) and  GuiDO,  the  founder  of  the  order  of  Hospitallers, 
to  stimulate  the  clergy  to  greater  diligence,  to  watch  the 
conduct  of  the  nobles,  and  on  the  detection  of  any  of  the 
heretics,  to  demand  the  most  summary  proceedings  against 
them — enjoining  his  legates  to  transmit  him  by  messenger 
or  letter,  the  fullest  information  they  could  procure,  that 
thus,  being  more  particularly  informed,  he  might  the  better 
know  how  to  proceed  against  them. 

Our  learned  countryman,  Archbishop  Usher,  to  whom 
we  are  under  great  obligations  for  the  pains  he  took  to  ex- 
plore the  affairs  of  this  dark  period,  and  to  illustrate  the 
history  of  the  Waldensian  churches,  gives  us  a  very  amu- 
sing account  of  the  strain  of  preaching  which  prevailed 
throughout  those  Catholic  countries  at  that  period.     The 


*  Rankin's  Hist,  of  France,  Vol.  III.  and  Limborch's  History  of  the 
Inquisition,  ch.  ix. 


104  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [ch.  v. 

preachers  had  one  favourite  text,  viz.  Psahn  xciv.  16. 
"  fVho  will  rise  up  for  me  against  the  evil  doers  ?  or  who 
will  stand  up  for  me  against  the  xvoi'kers  of  iniquity  T^  And 
it  is  probable  that  the  sermon  was  as  uniform  as  the 
text,  for  we  are  told  they  generally  concluded  thus  :  "  You 
see,  most  dear  brethren,  how  great  the  wickedness  of  the 
heretics  is,  and  how  much  mischief  they  do  in  the  world. 
You  see  also,  how  tenderly,  and  by  how  many  pious  me- 
thods the  church  labours  to  reclaim  them.  But  with  them 
they  all  prove  ineffectual,  and  they  fly  to  the  secular  power 
for  their  defence.  Therefore  our  holy  mother,  the  church, 
though  with  reluctance  and  grief,  calls  together  against 
them  the  Christian  army.  If  then  you  have  any  zeal  for 
the  faith ;  if  you  are  touched  with  any  concern  for  the  ho- 
nour of  God ;  if  you  would  reap  the  benefit  of  this  great 
indulgence,  come  and  receive  the  sign  of  the  cross,  and 
join  yourselves  to  the  army  of  the  crucified  Saviour." 

As  the  country  of  Toulouse  was  the  principal  place  of 
rendezvous  for  the  Alblgenses,  and  as  they  abounded  there 
in  immense  numbers,  the  Pope  evinced  the  utmost  solici- 
tude to  prevail  upon  Count  Raymond  to  expel  them  from 
his  dominions.  But  all  his  entreaties  to  induce  the  latter, 
either  to  banish  so  large  a  number  of  his  peaceable  sub- 
jects, or  even  to  persecute  them,  proving  fruitless,  he  or- 
dered him  to  be  excommunicated  as  a  favourer  of  heretics. 
He  sent  his  legate  with  letters  to  many  of  the  prelates, 
commanding  them  to  make  inquisition  against  the  heretical 
Albigenses  in  France,  to  destroy  them  and  convert  their 
protectors.  He  also  wrote  to  Philip,  king  of  France,  re- 
minding him  that  it  was  his  duty  to  take  arms  against  those 
heretics,  and  to  use  all  his  power  to  suppress  them,  that  by 
thus  labouring  to  stem  the  progress  of  heresy,  he  might 
purge  himself  from  all  suspicion  of  being  tainted  therewith 
in  his  own  person.  Twelve  abbots  of  the  Cistercian  order, 
accompanied  with  the  Pope's  legate,  went  preaching  the 
cross  against  the  Albigenses,  and  promising,  by  the  autho- 
rity of  his  holiness,  a  plenary  remission  of  their  sins,  to  all 


SECT.  VT.]      Inquisiiion  introduced  into  France.  105 

who  took  on  tlieni  the  crusnde.  The  famous,  or,  more 
properly  speaking;,  the  iulamous,  Domhiic,  the  founder  of 
the  Inquisition,  joined  himself  to  this  association,  and,  while 
encr^ged  on  this  murderous  expedition,  he  is  said  to  have 
digested  ti:e  plan  of  that  iniquitous  court. 

The  efibrts  of  Reinerius,  and  his  associates,  not  answer- 
ing the  sanguine  expectations  of  the  Pope,  and  the  scheme 
of  Dominic  for  establishing  the  Inquisition,  being  commu- 
nicated to  him,  tlie  latter,  in  the  year  1216,  transmitted  his 
letters  patent,  creating  Dominic  inquisitor  general,  which 
wgs  confirmed  by  the  council  of  Lateran  in  the  same  year. 
Having  received  these  letters,  and  being  thus  armed  with 
authority,  Dominic,  on  a  certain  day,  in  the  midst  of  a 
large  concourse  of  people,  in  the  church  of  St.  Prullian, 
announced  in  one  of  his  sermons,  that  "he  was  raised  by 
the  Pope  to  a  new  office ;  adding,  that  he  w  as  resolved  to 
defend,  with  his  utmost  vigour,  the  doctrines  of  the  faith  ; 
and  that  if  the  spiritual  and  ecclesiastical  arms  were  not  suf- 
ficient for  this  end,  it  was  his  fixed  determination  to  call  in 
the  aid  of  the  civil  magistrate,  to  excite  and  compel  the  Ca- 
tholic princes  to  take  arms  against  heretics,  that  the  very 
memory  of  them  might  be  entirely  destroyed." 

A  nobleman  in  the  vicinity  of  Narbonne,  having  about 
this  time  been  converted  to  the  Catholic  faith,  the  inquisi- 
tors obtained  possession  of  his  house  or  castle,  where  they 
fixed  their  court,  and  commenced  the  operations  of  that 
iniquitous  system.  On  the  one  hand,  they  ofl'ered  to  con- 
verts the  remission  of  all  their  sins,  plenary  indulgences, 
and  various  other  privileges  ;  and  on  the  other,  the  obsti- 
nate were  branded,  imprisoned,  and  tortured.  Multitudes 
were  allured  by  these  deceitful  pretexts  to  enrol  themselves 
under  the  banners  of  St.  Dominic,  vainly  imagining,  that 
tliey  could  thus  make  compensation  for  their  sins. 

Dominic  framed  a  code  of  regulations  for  the  preserva- 
tion and  proper  government  of  this  crusading  fraternity. 
One  was,  that  such  as  entered  upon  this  warfare  should 
take  an  oath,  that  they  would  endeavour  with    all  their 


TOG  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [ch.  v. 

might  to  recover,  defend,  and  protect  the  rights  of  the 
church,  against  all  who  should  presume  to  usurp  them  ; 
and  that  they  would  expose  themselves  and  their  estates  in 
defence  of  the  ecclesiastical  immunities,  by  taking  up  arms 
as  often  as  they  should  be  called  upon  to  do  it,  by  the  pre- 
late of  the  war,  an  honour  at  that  time  vested  in  Dominic 
himself,  and  subsequently  in  the  masters  general  of  the  Do- 
minican order.  If  any  of  them  were  married,  an  oath  was 
required  from  their  wives,  that  they  would  not  persuade 
their  husbands  to  forsake  the  war  for  the  support  of  the  ec- 
clesiastical privileges,  promising  them  eternal  life  as  the 
reward  of  so  pious  a  service.  To  distinguish  them  from 
laics,  a  peculiar  dress  was  devised  for  both  the  men  and 
their  wives,  consisting  of  wliite  and  black  colours,  but  of 
difi'erent  make.  None  were  to  be  admitted  to  this  sacred 
warfare,  without  a  previous  rigorous  examination  of  his  life, 
manners,  and  faith — whether  he  had  paid  his  debts,  for- 
given his  enemies,  and  made  his  will,  that  he  might  be  the 
more  ready  for  the  battle,  and  also  whether  he  had  obtain- 
ed leave  from  liis  wife  before  a  notary  and  proper  witnesses. 
The  wives  of  those  that  were  slain  in  the  expedition  pro- 
mised that  they  would  never  marry  again.  All  this,  no 
doubt,  was  highly  ridiculous  ;  but  it  imposed  an  air  of  sa- 
credness  upon  the  thing  which  took  with  the  vulgar,  and 
rendered  the  crusade  so  popular,  that  numbers  entered  into 
it  with  avidity,  hoping  by  the  slaughter  of  heretics,  and 
the  plunder  of  their  goods,  to  ensure  their  admission  into 
heaven.* 

With  all  this,  however,  the  cause  proceeded  but  slowly. 
The  Pope  was  dissatisfied.  The  measures  of  Dominic  and 
his  adherents,  seemed  to  him  but  as  the  sprinkling  of  water, 
which  only  aggravated  and  extended  the  flame  of  heresy. 
He,  therefore,  denounced  open  and  more  violent  war;  invi- 
ted the  Catholic  princes  and  nobles  to  take  up  arms,  and 
commissioned  his  ministers  to  preach  the  same  indulgences, 

*  Limhorch's  Inquisition,  ch.  xi. 


SECT.  VI.]  Dispute  between  the  Catholics  andAlhigemes.    107 

and  to  offer  terras  of  every  kind,  as  advantageous  as  those 
that  were  granted  when  levies  were  made  for  crusading  to 
Asia.* 

The  court  of  Rome,  however,  with  a  view  to  preserve  at 
least  the  semblance  of  decency,  thought  it  expedient,  be- 
fore proceeding  to  compulsory  measures  with  the  Albigen- 
ses,  to  try  to  reclaim  them  to  the  church  by  the  more  gen- 
tle and  reasonable  methods  of  persuasion,  and  the  latter 
formed  the  resolution  of  defending  their  own  principles. 
They  consequently  gave  the  bishops  to  understand  that 
some  of  their  pastors  were  ready  to  discuss  the  subject  with 
them  in  open  conference,  provided  the  thing  could  be 
conducted  with  propriety.  They  explained  their  notions  of 
propriety  by  proposing  that  there  should  be  moderators  on 
each  side,  vested  with  authority  to  prevent  tumult  and  pre- 
serve order  and  regularity — that  the  conference  should  be 
held  in  some  place  to  which  all  parties  concerned  might 
have  free  and  safe  access — and  lastly,  that  a  particular  sub- 
ject should  be  agreed  upon  between  the  disputants,  which 
should  be  steadily  prosecuted  until  it  was  fully  discussed 
and  determined,  and  that  the  party  which  could  not  main- 
tain it  by  an  appeal  to  the  Scriptures,  the  only  standard  of 
faith  to  Christians,  should  own  themselves  vanquished. 

The  proposal  was  so  reasonable  that  it  could  not  witli 
decency  be  rejected ;  it  was  therefore  accepted  by  the  bi- 
shops and  monks.  The  place  of  conference  agreed  upon 
was  Montreal,  near  Carcassone,  in  the  year  1206.  The 
umpires  on  the  Catholic  side  vv  ere  the  bishops  of  Villeneuse 
and  Auxere — and  on  that  of  the  Albigenses,  R.  de  Bot, 
and  Anthony  Riviere.  On  the  part  of  the  latter,  several 
pastors  were  appointed  to  manage  the  debate,  of  whom  Ar- 
nold Hot  was  the  principal.  He  arrived  first  at  the  appoint- 
ed place.  A  bishop  of  the  name  of  Eusus  met  him  on 
behalf  of  the  papacy,  accompanied  by  the  renowned  Domi- 
nic, two  of  the  pope's  legates,  and  several  other  of  the  Ca- 

*  See  Vol.  I.  ch  iv.  sect.  4. 


108  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [ch.  v. 

tholic  clergy.  The  points  which  Arnold  undertook  to 
prove  were,  that  the  mass  and  transubstantiation  were  ido- 
latrous and  unscriptural — that  the  church  of  Rome  was  not 
the  spouse  ot"  Christ — and  that  its  polity  was  of  a  pernicious 
and  wicked  tendency.  Arnold  drew  up  certain  propositions 
upon  tjjose  points,  which  he  transmitted  to  the  bishop,  who 
required  fifteen  days  to  answer  them,  which  was  granted. 
On  the  appointed  day,  the  bishop  appeared,  and  produced 
a  large  manuscript,  which  was  read  in  the  public  assembly. 
Arnold  requested  that  he  might  be  permitted  to  reply  by 
word  of  mouth,  only  entreating  their  patience  if  he  took  a 
considerable  time  in  answering  so  prolix  a  writing,  and  fair 
promises  were  made  him  of  a  patient  hearing.  He  then  dis- 
coursed for  the  space  of  four  days  upon  the  subject,  with  such 
fluency  and  readiness,  such  order,  perspicuity,  and  forcible 
reasoning,  that  a  strong  impression  was  produced  on  the  au- 
dience. Arnold,  at  length,  called  upon  his  opponents  to 
defend  themselves.  What  they  said  on  the  occasion,  we 
ai'e  not  informed,  but  the  cause  of  the  abrupt  termination  of 
the  conference  is  a  fact  allowed  on  all  hands,  and  may  pos- 
sibly suggest  what  was  the  real  state  of  the  controversy. 
For,  while  the  pope's  legates  were  disputing  with  Arnold, 
the  umpire  of  the  papal  party,  the  bishop  of  Villeneuse,  de- 
clared that  nothing  could  be  determined,  because  the  army 
of  the  crusaders  was  at  hand.*  What  he  asserted,  alas, 
was  but  too  true  ;  the  papal  armies  advanced,  and,  by  fire 
and  faggot,  instantly  decided  all  the  points  of  the  controver- 
sy ;  and  if  we  may  place  any  reliance  upon  writers  of  unim- 
peachable veracity,  "  the  armies  employed  by  Pope  Innocent 
ill.  destroyed  above  two  hundred  thousand  of  them  in  the 
short  space  of  a  few  months. "f  Arnold  and  his  brethren,  in- 
deed, might  have  been  fully  assured  that  it  never  was  the  in- 
tention of  the  Pope  to  submit  to  any  decision  of  the  contro- 
versy by  argument,  which  might  happen  to  be  unfavour- 

*  Perrin's  History  of  the  Albigenses,  b.  iii.  ch.  ii. 

I  Dr.  Grosvenor'i  Serinou  against  Popery,  at  Salter's  Hall,  173i. 


SECT,  ri.]   Character  of  Raymond,  Earl  of  Toulouse.     109 

able  to  his  party.  The  acquiescence  of  his  holiness  in  the 
proposal  to  discuss  the  dili'erences  between  the  parties  in  a 
public  disputation,  was,  in  all  probability,  a  mere  ma- 
noeuvre, intended  only  to  amuse  the  Albigenses  and  gain 
time,  till  the  armies  that  were  preparing  with  a  view  to  de- 
stroy them  might  be  in  readiness.  Platina,  one  of  their 
own  writers,  in  his  Life  of  Innocent  HI.,  seems  to  insinu- 
ate as  much,  when  he  tells  us,  that  "  there  was  need,  not 
only  of  disputations,  but  of  arms  also  ;  to  such  a  pitch  was 
the  hei'esy  grown."  The  bull  which  the  Pope  had  already 
issued,  in  consequence  of  the  death  of  Peter  de  Chatincau, 
had  also  made  that  sutTicientl}'  apparent.  He  had  dis- 
patched preachers  throughout  all  Europe  to  collect  an 
army  which  should  revenge  the  blood  of  that  man,  pro- 
mising paradise,  and  the  remission  of  all  their  sins,  to  those 
who  should  bear  arms  forty  days  in  that  holy  warfare ; 
and,  after  telling  them  that  "they  were  not  to  keep  faith 
with  those  who  do  not  keep  faith  with  God,"  he  thus  pro- 
ceeds, "We  exhort  3'ou,  that  you  would  endeavour  to  de- 
stroy the  wicked  heresy  of  the  Albigenses,  and  do  this  with 
more  rigour  than  you  would  towards  the  Saracens  them- 
selves ;  persecute  them  with  a  strong  hand ;  deprive  them 
of  their  lands  and  possessions ;  banish  them  and  put  Roman 
Catholics  in  their  room."* 

Raymond,  the  sixth  count  of  Toulouse,  in  whose  terri- 
tories the  Albigenses  chiefly  abounded,  still  humanely  ex- 
tended to  them  his  protection  and  patronage.  Pope  Inno- 
cent, by  a  bull,  had  excommunicated  him  as  a  favourer  of 
heretics — he  was  prohibited  the  communion  of  holy  things 
and  of  the  faithful — all  his  subjects  were  absolved  from 
their  oath  of  allegiance,  and  power  was  dispensed  to  any 
catholic  man  not  only  to  act  against  his  person,  but  to 
seize  his  dominions,  and  dispossess  him  of  them,  under  the 
pretext  that  by  the  prudence  of  the  one,  they  might  be  ef- 
fectually purged  from  heresy,  as  they  had  been  grievously 

*  Clarke's  Martyrology,  ch.  xxiv. 
Vol.  II.  Q 


110  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [ch.  r, 

defiled  by  the  wickedness  of  the  other.  Yet  he  does  not 
appear  to  have  been  in  the  least  diverted  from  his  purpose 
by  these  horrid  proceedings.  His  character  is  variously 
represented  by  the  friends  and  enemies  of  his  party.  The 
former  describe  him,  not  only  as  generous  and  brave,  but 
as  pious  and  virtuous,  while  the  latter  revile  him  as  a  hypo- 
crite. The  true  account  of  him  seems  to  be,  that  whether 
he  had  adopted  the  sentiments  of  the  Albigenses  or  not,  he 
humanely  sympathized  with  them — that  he  understood  the 
spirit  of  true  religion  to  be  a  spirit  of  tolerance;  that  he 
studied  to  promote  the  real  interests  of  his  country ;  and 
with  these  views,  at  least,  that  he  was  desirous  to  protect 
all  such  as  were  useful  members  of  society,  whatever  might 
be  their  peculiar  religious  tenets.  Under  such  patronage 
their  numbers  rapidly  increased,  but  it  proportionally  in- 
flamed the  indignation  of  the  fierce  and  bloody  inquisitors.* 
While  affairs  remained  in  this  critical  posture,  it  unfor- 
tunately happened  that  Peter  Chatineau,  one  of  the  in- 
quisitors, was  assassinated,  and  Count  Raymond  was  sus- 
pected of  being,  at  least,  privy  to  the  murder.  The 
catholics  loudly  inveighed  against  the  crime  as  of  the 
deepest  dye.  The  Count  protested  his  innocence,  affirm- 
ing that  he  was  in  no  reject  guilty  of  the  death  of  that 
friar — that  he  had  been  killed  at  St.  Giles  by  a  certain 
gentleman  whom  Peter  had  pursued,  and  who  immediately 
afterwards  retired  to  his  friends  at  Beaucaire — that  he  had 
done  every  thing  in  his  power  to  apprehend  the  manslayer ; 
and  in  fine,  that  even  were  it  true  that  he  had  been  in  any 
respect  accessary  to  the  murder,  the  ordinary  course  of 
justice  ought  to  be  pursued,  and  not  to  revenge  it  upon 
his  subjects  who  were  innocent.  To  all  this  the  Catholic 
party  were  deaf;  Raymond  was  loaded  with  infamy,  and 
with  the  highest  censures  of  the  church;  and  in  a  little 
time,  an  expedition  of  more  than  one  hundred  thousand 
cross-bearers  (crusaders)  was  actually  equipped  against  him. 

*  Rankiu's  History  of  France,  Vol.  III. 


SECT.  VI.]    First  crusade  against  the  Albigcnses.  1 1  I 

Raymond  was  justly  alarmed — he  oflered  to  submit,  pro- 
mised obedience,  and  as  a  proof  of  his  sincerity,  delivered 
up  into  the  hands  of  the  Poj^e  seven  fortified  places  in 
Provence.  But  that  was  not  a  sufficient  sacrifice  to  eccle- 
siastical pride  and  malignity.  He  was  required  to  present 
himself  before  the  gates  of  the  chnrch  of  St.  Agde,  in  the 
town  of  that  name.  Upwards  of  twenty  bishops  and  arch- 
bishops were  present,  convened  for  the  purpose  of  receiving 
his  submission.  He  was  required  to  swear  upon  the  holy 
solemnities  of  the  eucharist  and  the  relics  of  the  saints, 
which  were  exposed  with  great  reverence  before  the  gates 
of  the  chnrch,  and  held  by  several  prelates,  that  he  would 
obey  the  commands  of  the  hoi}'  Roman  church.  Wiien 
he  had  thus  bound  himself  by  an  oath,  the  legate  ordered 
one  of  the  sacred  vestments  to  be  thrown  over  his  neck, 
and,  drawing  him  by  means  of  it,  he  was  brought  into  the 
church,  where,  having  scourged  him  with  a  whip,  he  ab- 
solved him.  It  is  added,  "that  he  was  so  grievously  torn 
by  the  stripes  in  scourging,  that  he  was  unable  to  go  out 
by  the  way  in  which  he  had  entered  the  church,  but  was 
forced  to  pass,  quite  naked  as  he  was,  through  the  lower 
gate.  He  was  also  compelled  to  undergo  the  same  de- 
grading process  at  the  sepulchre  of  St.  Peter  the  martyr 
at  New  Castres."* 

The  immense  army  of  crusaders,  however,  being  now  in 
motion,  was  not  to  be  reduced  to  a  state  of  inactivity  because 
the  Earl  of  Toulouse  had  eifected  his  reconciliation  with 
the  See  of  Rome.  On  the  contrary,  they  every  where 
attacked  the  Albigenses,  took  possession  of  the  cities  in 
which  they  were  known  to  be,  filled  the  streets  with  slaugh- 
ter and  blood,  and  committed  to  the  flames  numbers  whom 
they  had  taken  prisoners.  Raymond  had  a  nephew  of  the 
name  of  Roger,  who  was  more  bold  and  determined  than 
bis  uncle.  He  was  at  the  head  of  seven  fiefs,  or  baronies, 
dependent,  however,   upon  the   Earl  of  Toulouse,  and  he 

■*  Limborch's  Inquisition,  ch.  xi. 


1 12  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [ch.  v. 

evinced  no  disposition  to  yield  an  implicit  obedience  to 
the  orders  of  Rome,  nor  iibandon  the  people  who  had  put 
themselves  under  his  protection.  Among  the  humiliating 
stipulations  imposed  upon  the  Earl  of  Toulouse,  the  one 
most  repup:;nant  to  his  feelings  was,  that  he  himself  should 
lead  the  crusading  army  against  Beziers,  the  capital  of  his 
own  nephew's  dominions;  which  was  in  effect  now  to  make 
him  the  instrument  of  the  destruction  of  the  Albigenses.  as 
he  had  hitherto  been  their  protector,  and  indeed  the  de- 
struction of  his  nephew  also.  This  has  ever  been  the  de- 
testable policy  of  the  court  of  Rome,  never  to  be  satisfied 
with  reasonable  offers  of  submission,  without  degrading 
the  wretched  suppliant,  even  in  his  own  eyes.  The  Earl 
continued  with  the  army  a  few  days  and  then  took  his 
leave  of  the  legate,  clu>osing  rather  to  take  a  journey  to 
Rome,  in  order  to  humble  himself  before  the  Pope,  a  pri- 
vilege which  could  not  be  denied  him,  than  continue  with 
it  to  be  a  spectator  of  the  murder  of  thousands  of  peaceable 
and  virtuous  men,  and  the  ruin  of  his  own  nephew. 

When  the  army  advanced  towards  the  neighbourhood 
of  Beziers,  the  fate  of  the  city  was  easily  foreseen,  and  the 
nephew  of  Raymond,  fully  sensible  that  it  could  not  be 
defended  against  a  hundred  thousand  men,  went  out  of 
the  city,  threw  himself  at  the  feet  of  the  pope's  legate, 
and  supplicated  his  mercy  in  favour  of  his  capital,  beseech- 
ing him  not  to  involve  the  innocent  with  the  guilty,  which 
must  be  the  case  if  Beziers  were  taken  by  storm — that 
there  were  many  Roman  Catholics  in  the  city,  who  would 
be  involved  in  one  indiscriminate  scene  of  ruin  contrary  to 
the  intentions  of  the  Pope,  whose  object  was  understood 
to  be  solely  the  punishment  of  the  Albigenses.  Numerous 
other  topics  of  entreaty  were  urged  by  the  young  prince; 
but  the  answer  of  the  legate  to  all  he  could  plead  was,  that 
"  all  his  apologies  and  excuses  would  avail  him  nothing, 
and  that  he  must  do  the  best  he  could  for  himself."  Thus 
foiled  in  his  object,  the  Earl  of  Beziers  returned  into  the 
city,  convened  the  inhabitants,  to  whom  he  explained  the 


SECT.  VI.]    First  crusade  against  the  Alhigtnses.  113 

ill  success  that  had  attended  his  mission;  and  particularly, 
that  the  only  condition  upon  which  pardon  would  be 
granted  by  the  pope's  legate  was,  that  the  Albigenses 
should  abjure  their  reiifi^ion,  and  promise  to  live  according 
to  the  laws  of  the  Roman  church. 

The  Catholic  inhabitants  of  Beziers  now  interposed,  using 
every  entreaty  with  the  Albigenses  to  compl\  with  that 
stipulation,  and  not  be  the  occasion  of  their  death,  since 
the  legate  was  resolved  to  pardon  none,  uidess  they  all 
consented  to  live  in  subjection  to  one  rule  of  faith. 

The  Albigenses  replied,  that  they  never  could  consent 
to  purchase  a  prolongation  of  this  perishing  life  at  the 
price  of  renouncing  their  filth — that  they  were  fully  per- 
suaded God  could,  if  he  pleased,  protect  and  defend  them: 
— but  they  were  as  fully  persuaded,  thr.t  if  it  were  his  good 
pleasure  to  be  glorified  by  the  confession  of  their  faith,  it 
would  be  a  high  honour  conferred  upon  them  to  sacrifice 
their  lives  for  righteousness'  sake — that  the3'  much  preferred 
displeasing  the  Pope,  who  could  only  destroy  their  bodies, 
to  incurring  the  displeasure  of  God,  w  ho  is  able  to  destroy 
both  soul  and  body  together — that  they  hoped  never  to 
be  ashamed  of,  nor  forsake,  a  faith  by  which  they  had 
been  taught  the  knowledge  of  Christ  and  his  righteousness, 
and,  at  the  hazard  of  eternal  death,  barter  it  for  a  religion 
which  annihilated  the  merits  of  the  Saviour,  and  rendered 
his  righteousness  of  none  efl'ect.  They,  therefore,  left  it 
to  the  Catholics  and  the  Earl  of  Beziers  to  make  the  best 
terms  they  could  for  themselves,  but  entreated  tiiat  tliey 
would  not  promise  any  thing  on  their  behalf  inconsistent 
with  their  duty  as  Christians. 

Finding  the  Albigenses  inflexible,  the  Catholic  party, 
next  sent  their  own  bishop  to  the  legate,  to  entreat  him 
not  to  comprehend  in  the  punishment  of  the  Albigenses, 
those  that  had  always  been  constant  and  uniform  in  their 
adherence  to  the  church  of  Rome.  In  this  interview  the 
bishop  explained  to  him  that  he  was  their  prelate ;  and  he 
knew  them  well ;  and  that  as  to  the  Albigenses,  he  did  not 


114  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [gh.  v. 

think  them  so  irrecoverable  as  to  be  past  all  hopes  of  re- 
pentance— that,  on  the  contrary,  he  trusted  a  becoming 
mildness  on  the  part  of  the  church,  which  does  not  delight 
in  blood,  might  yet  reclaim  them. 

The  sanguinary  ecclesiastic,  however,  was  wholly  deaf  to 
the  voice  of  humanity.  Transported  with  rage,  he  gave 
vent  to  the  most  terrible  threatenings ;  and  swore  that  un- 
less all  who  were  in  the  city  acknowledged  their  guilt,  and 
submitted  to  the  church  of  Rome,  they  should  every  in- 
dividual be  put  to  the  sword,  without  regard  to  religious 
profession,  age,  or  sex — giving  instant  orders  for  the  city 
to  be  summoned  to  surrender  at  discretion.  Under  these 
circumstances  resistance  was  vain;  the  assailants  were  im- 
mediately in  possession  of  it,  and  its  inhabitants,  to  the 
number  of  three  and  twenty  thousand,  were  indiscriminately 
massacred,  and  the  city  itself  destroyed  by  fire.  Ca?sa- 
vius  informs  us,  that  when  the  crusaders  were  about  to 
enter  the  city,  knowing  that  there  were  many  Catholics 
mixed  with  the  heretics,  and  hesitating  how  they  should 
act  in  regard  to  the  former,  application  was  made  to  Arnold, 
the  abbe  of  Cisteaux,  for  advice,  who  instantly  replied, 
•'  Kill  them  all — the  Lord  knoweth  them  that  are  his."* 

The  Earl  of  Beziers,  foreseeing  the  ruin  which  threat- 
ened his  capital,  made  his  escape,  and  withdrew  to  the 
neighbouring  city  of  Carcassone.  This  place  was  much 
more  strongly  fortified,  both  by  nature  and  art,  than  Be- 
ziers, and  consequently  more  defensible.  The  city,  or 
upper  town,  stands  upon  a  hill,  surrounded  by  a  double 
wall ;  the  lower  town,  or  borough,  is  in  the  plain,  about  two 
miles  distant  from  the  city.  Numbers  of  the  Albigenses 
resided  there,  and  many  more  fled  to  it  for  security.  The 
young  earl,  who  had  now  been  fully  instructed,  by  the 
horrible  proceedings  at  Beziers,  into  the  motives  and  de- 


*  Perrin's  History  of  the  Albijenses,  book  iii.  chap.  iv.  Bzovius, 
A.  1209.  sect.  1.  and  Ranaldus,  A.  1209-  sect.  22.  inLimborch's  History 
of  the  Inquisition,  Vol.  1.  ch.  xi. 


SECT.  VI.]  Siege  of  Carcassone.  115 

terminations  of  the  Catholics,  resolved,  as  far  as  was  prac- 
ticable,  to  defend  Carcassone.     He,  therefore,   convened 
his  subjects,  reminded  them  of  the  treatment  which  the  in- 
habitants of  Beziers  had  received,  and  that  they  had  to  do 
with  the  same  enemies,  who  had  indeed  changed  the  place 
of  siege,  but  not  the  cruelty  of  their  dispositions,  nor  their 
wish  to  destroy  them  if  they  could  effect  it.     He  therefore 
gave   it  as  his  opinion,  that  it  was  preferable  to  die  in  de- 
fence of  their  city  and  privileges,  rather  than  fall  into  the 
hands  of  such  cruel  and  relentless  enemies.    That  for  his  own 
part,  he  professed  the  Roman  Catholic  religion,  but  he  was 
fully  aware  that  the  present  was  not  a  war  of  religion,  but 
a  system  of  robbery,  contrived  for  the  purpose  of  getting 
possession  of  the  dominions  of  his  uncle,  the  Earl  of  Ray- 
mond,  and  all   that  were   related  to  him.     He  therefore 
urged  the  inhabitants  to  defend  themselves  hke  men,  and 
to  recollect   that  both  their  lives  and  the  free  exercise  of 
their  religion  were  at  stake,  pledging  himself  that  he  would 
never  forsake  them  in  so  honourable  a  cause  as  that  of  de- 
fending themselves   against  their   common  enemies,  who, 
under  the  mask  of  dissembled  piety,  were,  in  effect,  nothing 
better  than  thieves  and  robbers.     This  manly  address   in- 
fused courage  into  the  hearts  of  his  subjects — they  pledged 
themselves  to  defend  their  sovereign  and  the  city  of  Car- 
cassone with  whatever  concerned  them. 

In  the  mean-time,  the  army  of  the  crusaders  had  been 
augmented  by  the  arrival  of  fresh  levies  from  every  part 
of  France,  as  well  as  from  Italy  and  Germany,  to  upwards 
of  three  hundred  thousand  men,  (some  writers  make  them 
five  hundred  thousand)  and  had  advanced  to  die  walls  of 
the  town,  when  they  rushed  furiously  upon  the  first  rampire, 
filling  the  ditch  with  fascines,  and  making  themselves  sure 
of  au  easy  conquest  of  the  place.  But  they  met  with  so 
valiant  a  repulse,  that  the  ground  was  covered  with  the 
dead  bodies  of  the  pilgrims  (as  they  called  themselves) 
round  about  the  city.  The  following  day  the  legate  order- 
ed the  scaling  ladders  to  be  applied,  and  a  general  assault 


116  History  of  the  Christian  Church.         [ch.  v. 

to  be  made  on  the  town,  but  the  inhabitants  made  a  resohite 
defence.  They  were,  however,  at  length,  overpowered 
with  numbei-s,  and  beat  back  from  the  walls,  when  the 
enemy  entered,  and  gave  the'  inhabitants  of  the  borough 
exactly  the  same  treatment  they  had  lately  done  to  those  of 
Beziers,  putting  them  all  to  the  sword. 

The  city,  or  upper  town,  however,  was  yet  secure,  but 
the  besieging  army  lost  no  time  in  proceeding  to  its  reduc- 
tion. The  legate  commanded  them  to  play  all  their  en- 
gines of  war  upon  it,  and  to  take  it  by  assault.  But  he 
had  the  mortification  to  see  his  soldiers  of  the  cross  fall  by 
thousands — the  ground  covered,  and  the  ditches  filled  with 
the  dead  bodies  of  his  pilgrims.  This  immense  army,  in 
a  little  time,  began  to  experience  the  want  of  forage,  which 
the  soldiers  were  driven  to  the  necessity  of  seeking  about 
the  fields — add  to  which,  that  to  the  term  of  forty  days,  for 
which  they  hud  originally  enlisted,  and  in  which  time  they 
were  to  purchase  the  bliss  of  paradise,  was  now  accomplish- 
ed ;  and,  contenting  themselves  with  that  great  object,  they 
refused  to  enter  upon  any  further  conquest,  and  withdrew 
by  thousands  from  the  legate's  standard.  The  latter, 
alarmed  at  the  reduction  of  his  army,  and  not  finding  the 
conquest  of  the  city  so  practicable  as  he  at  first  appre- 
hended, had  recourse  next  to  stratagem  for  efl'ecting  his 
purpose.  Amongst  those  who  had  joined  his  army  with 
fresh  auxiharies  under  the  walls  of  Carcassone,  was  the 
King  of  Arragon  in  Spain.  A  plot  was  formed  between 
this  monarch  and  the  legate  to  try  the  effect  of  negotiation 
with  the  Earl  of  Beziers,  and  the  former  was  deputed  to 
solicit  an  interview  and  manage  the  whole  affair. 

An  interview  accordingly  took  place,  at  which  the  King 
of  Arragon  expressed  his  wish  to  know  what  could  induce 
the  Earl  to  shut  himself  up  in  the  city  of  Carcassone 
against  so  vast  an  army  of  the  pilgrims.  The  latter  replied, 
it  was  the  justice  of  his  cause — that  he  was  fully  persuaded 
the  Pope,  under  the  pretext  of  religion,  had  formed  tlie 
design  of  ruining  both  his  uncle,  the  Earl  of  Raymond, 


SECT.  VI.]      Spirited  conduct  of  the  Earl  of  Beziers.       117 

and  himself — of  this  he  had  had  the  most  convincing  proof 
when  he  undertook  to  intercede  for  his  subjects,  the  inhabit- 
ants of  Beziers.  The  pope's  legate  had  refused  to  spare 
such  of  them  as  were  Catholics,  and  had  even  butchered 
the  priests  themselves,  though  clothed  in  their  sacerdotal 
ornaments,  and  though  they  had  ranged  themselves  under 
the  banner  of  the  cross  :  That  that  horrible  instance  of 
cruelty  and  wickedness,  added  to  their  proceedings  in  the 
borough  of  Carcassone,  where  his  unoffending  subjects 
had  been  exposed  to  fire  and  sword  without  regard  to  age 
or  sex,  had  taught  him  the  folly  of  looking  for  any  mercy 
at  the  hands  of  the  legate  or  his  army  of  pilgrims  ;  that 
consequently  he  preferred  to  die  in  his  own  defence  rather 
than  be  exposed  to  the  mercy  of  so  relentless  and  inexora- 
ble an  enem)%  He  acknowledged  to  the  king,  that  many 
of  his  subjects  in  the  city  of  Carcassone  professed  a  faith 
very  different  from  that  of  the  church  of  Rome,  but  they 
were  persons  who  never  did  wrong  or  injury  to  any  one, 
and  that  in  requital  of  their  good  services  to  himself,  he 
was  resolved  never  to  desert  them.  He  also  expressed  his 
hope  that  God,  who  is  the  protector  and  defender  of  the, 
innocent,  would  support  them  against  that  misinformed 
multitude,  who,  under  the  mistaken  notion  of  meriting  hea- 
ven, had  left  their  own  houses  to  plunder,  burn,  and  destroy 
the  houses  of  other  men,  and  to  murder,  without  reason, 
mercy,  or  discretion. 

The  King  of  Arragon  returned  from  this  parley,  and,  in 
an  assembly,  consisting  of  the  legate,  the  lords,  and  pre- 
lates, reported  the  particulars  of  what  had  passed  between 
himself  and  the  Earl  of  Beziers.  The  king  was  requested 
to  withdraw  a  little  while,  on  which  a  consultation  took 
-place ;  and  being  again  called  in,  he  was  commissioned  to 
retiu-n  to  the  Earl  and  propose  to  him,  that,  at  Ms  interces- 
sion, the  legate  had  consented  to  receive  him  into  mercy, 
upon  the  following  terms.  He  should  be  permitted  to  come 
out  of  the  city,  and  to  bring  with  him  a  dozen  more,  with 
their  bag  and  baggage.  But  with  regard  to  the  rest  of 
Vol.  II.  R 


lis  History  of  the  Christian  Church,  [ch.  v. 

the  inhabitants,  they  should  not  leave  the  city  except  at  his 
discretion,  of  which  they  ought  to  entertain  the  most  fa- 
vourable opinion,  because  he  was  the  pope's  legate  ;  That  all 
the  inhabitants,  both  men,  women,  maidens,  and  children, 
should  come  forth  without  so  much  as  their  shirts  or  shifts 
on,  or  the  smallest  covering  to  hide  their  nakedness,  and 
that,  finally,  the  Earl  of  Beziers  should  be  kept  in  strict 
custody  and  confinement,  and  that  all  his  possessions  should 
remain  in  the  hands  of  such  a  successor  as  should  be  chosen 
for  the  preservation  of  the  country. 

The  Spanish  monarch  was  fully  persuaded,  that  propo- 
sitions so  degrading  as  these,  it  were  needless  to  ofier  to 
the  Earl  of  Beziers ;  he,  nevertheless,  complied  with  the 
legate's  request,  and  submitted  them  to  the  Earl,  who  gave 
an  immediate  reply  that  he  would  never  quit  the  city  upon 
conditions  so  dishonourable  and  unjust,  and  that  he  was 
resolved  to  defend  both  himself  and  his  subjects  by  ever} 
means  tliat  God  had  put  within  his  power. 

Finding  himself  thus  foiled  in  his  attempt  to  move  the 
Earl  of  Beziers,  the  legate  soon  had  recourse  to  a  less 
honourable,  but  much  more  deep  laid  plot.  He  insinuated 
himself  into  the  graces  of  one  of  tlie  officers  of  his  army,  tell- 
ing him  that  it  lay  in  his  power  to  render  to  the  church  a 
signal  instance  of  kindness,  and  that  if  he  would  undertake 
it,  besides  tlie  rewards  which  he  should  receive  in  heaven, 
he  should  be  amply  recompensed  on  earth.  The  object 
was  to  get  access  to  the  Earl  of  Beziers,  professing  him- 
self to  be  his  kinsman  and  friend,  assuring  him  that  he  had 
something  to  communicate  of  the  last  importance  to  his 
interests  ;  and,  having  thus  far  succeeded,  he  was  to  pre- 
vail upon  him  to  accompany  him  to  the  legate,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  negotiating  a  peace,  under  a  pledge  that  he  should 
be  safely  conducted  back  again  to  the  city.  The  officer 
played  his  part  so  dexterously,  that  the  Earl  imprudently 
consented  to  accompany  him.  At  their  interview,  the  lat- 
ter submitted  to  the  legate  the  propriety  of  exercising  a 
little  more  lenity  and  moderation  towards  his  subjects,  a? 


SECT.  VI.]         Perfidy  of  the  Pope's  Legate.  ll'j 

a  procedure  that  might  have  the  happiest  tendency  in  re- 
claiming the  Albigenses  into  the  pale  of  the  church  of 
Rome;  he  also  stated  to  him,  that  the  conditions  whicii 
had  been  formerly  proposed  to  him  were  dishonourable  and 
shameful,  and  highly  indecorous  in  those  whose  eyes  ought 
to  be  as  chaste  as  their  thoughts  :  that  his  people  would 
rather  choose  to  die  than  submit  to  such  disgraceful  treat- 
ment. The  legate  replied  that  the  inhabitants  of  Carcas- 
sone  might  exercise  their  own  pleasure ;  but  that  it  was 
now  unnecessary  for  the  Earl  to  trouble  himself  any  further 
about  them,  as  he  was  himself  a  prisoner  until  Carcassone 
was  taken,  and  his  subjects  had  better  learnt  their  duty  ! 

The  Earl  was  not  a  little  astonished  at  this  information 
— protested  that  he  was  betrayed,  and  that  faith  was  viola- 
ted; for  that  the  gentleman,  by  whose  entreaties  he  had  been 
prevailed  upon  to  meet  the  legate,  had  pledged  himself  by 
oaths  and  execrations  to  conduct  him  back  in  safety  to  Car- 
cassone. But  appeals,  remonstrances,  or  entreaties,  were 
of  no  avail :  he  was  committed  to  the  custody  of  the  Duke 
of  Burgundy,  "  and,  having  been  thrown  into  prison,  died 
soon  after,  not  without  strong  suspicions  of  having  been- 
poisoned." 

No  sooner  had  the  inhabitants  of  Carcassone  received 
the  intelligence  of  the  Earl's  confinement,  than  they  burst 
into  tears,  and  were  seized  with  such  terror,  that  they 
thought  of  nothing,  but  how  to  escape  the  danger  they 
were  placed  in ;  but  blockaded  as  they  were  on  all  sides^ 
and  the  trenches  filled  with  men,  all  human  probability  of 
escape  vanished  from  their  eyes.  A  report,  however,  was 
circulated,  that  there  was  a  vault  or  subterraneous  passage 
somewhere  in  the  city,  which  led  to  the  castle  of  Ceberet, 
a  distance  of  about  three  leagues  from  Carcassone,  and 
that  if  the  mouth  or  entry  thereof  could  be  found,  provi- 
dence had  provided  for  them  a  way  of  escape.  All  the  in- 
habitants of  the  city,  except  those  who  kept  watch  upon 
the  rampires  immediately  commenced  the  search,  and  suc- 
cess rewarded  their  labour.     The  entrance  of  the  cavern 


120  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [en.  v. 

was  found,  and  at  the  beginning*  of  the  night  they  all  began 
their  journey  through  it,  carrying  with  them  only  as  much 
food  as  was  deemed  necessary  to  serve  them  for  a  few  days. 
"  It  was  a  dismal  and  sorrowful  sight,"  says  their  historian, 
"  to  witness  their  removal  and  departure,  accompanied  with 
sighs,  tears  and  lamentations,  at  the  thoughts  of  quitting 
their  habitations  and  all  their  worldly  possessions,  and  be- 
taking themselves  to  the  uncertain  event  of  saving  themselves 
by  flight ;  parents  leading  their  children,  and  the  more  robust 
supporting  decrepit  old  persons ;  and  especially  to  hear  the 
aflecting  lamentations  of  the  women."  They,  however., 
arrived  the  following  day  at  the  castle,  from  whence  they 
dispersed  themselves  through  difl'erent  parts  of  the  country, 
some  proceeding  to  Arragon,  some  to  Catalonia,  others  to 
Toulouse,  and  the  cities  belonging  to  their  party,  wher- 
ever God  in  his  providence  opened  a  door  for  their  admis- 
sion. 

The  awful  silence  which  reigned  in  the  solitary  city  ex- 
cited no  little  surprise  on  the  following  day  among  the  pil- 
grims. At  first  they  suspected  a  stratagem  to  draw  them 
into  an  ambuscade ;  but  on  mounting  the  walls  and  enter- 
ing the  town,  they  cried  out,  "  llie  Albigenses  are  fled !" 
The  legate  issued  a  proclamation,  that  no  person  siiould 
seize  or  carry  off  any  of  the  plunder — ^that  it  should  all 
be  carried  to  the  great  church  of  Carcassone,  whence  it 
was  disposed  of  for  the  benefit  of  the  pilgrims,  and  the 
proceeds  distributed  among  them  in  rewards  according  to 
their  deserts.* 

The  crusade  against  the  Albigenses  had  hitherto  been 
conducted  by  an  ecclesiastic,  the  Abbe  de  Cisteaux;  but 
having  been  prolonged  beyond  the  period  at  first  calcula- 
ted upon,  and  the  entire  reduction  of  the  heretics  beino' 
•  found  not  quite  so  easy  a  task  as  was  first  expected,  the  su- 
preme command  was  now  vested  in  the  hands  of  Simon, 
Earl  of  Montfort,  a  person  of  some  military  talents,  but 

)     "'=  Perrin's  History  of  the  Albigenses,  b.  iii.  ch.  v.      > 


SECT.  VT.J       Cruelty  of  the.  Earl  of  Montfort.  121 

of  a  fierce  and  ungovernable  temper.  He  was  appointed 
governor  of  the  whole  country,  both  of  what  had  been  al- 
ready conquered,  and  what  should  be  conquered  in  future. 
This  nobleman,  under  the  mask  of  piety  and  zeal  for  reli- 
gion, gratified  a  cruel  and  covetous  disposition.  He  plun- 
dered, assassinated  and  committed  to  the  flames  the  poor 
Albigenses,  without  regard  to  character,  sex,  or  age.  Daz- 
zled by  his  success,  he  set  n6  bounds  to  his  rapacious 
cruelty ;  and,  encouraged  by  the  papal  legate,  he  insolently 
proposed  that  the  Earl  of  Toulouse  should  absolutely  sur- 
render to  him  all  his  castles  and  territories  as  conquered  by 
tlie  Catholic  army.  Raymond  refused,  and  appealed  to 
Philip,  king  of  France,  his  lord  paramount.  The  haughty 
count,  however,  began  to  execute  his  threats,  and  laid  seige 
to  the  castle  of  Minerba,  (or  Minerva,)  a  place  strongly 
fortified  by  nature,  in  the  territoiy  of  Narbonne,  on  the 
confines  of  Spain.  "  This  place  (said  he)  is  of  all  others 
the  most  execrable,  because  no  mass  has  been  sung  in  it  for 
thirty  years" — a  remark  which  gives  us  a  striking  idea  of 
the  number  of  the  Waldenses  ;  the  very  worship  of  popery, 
it  seems,  was  expelled  from  the  place.  On  the  surrender 
of  the  castle,  which  was  defended  by  Raymond,  Earl  of 
Termes,  and  compelled  to  capitulate  for  want  of  water,  they 
exerted  all  their  influence  to  induce  him  to  recant  his  reli- 
gion and  turn  Catholic;  but  finding  him  inflexible,  they 
shut  him  up  in  a  close  prison,  where  he  soon  after  died.  They 
then  seized  his  wife,  sister,  and  virgin  daughter,  with  other 
females  of  distinguished  rank,  all  of  whom  they  laboured 
to  convert,  both  by  flattery  and  frowns,  by  fair  speeches 
and  cruel  threats ;  but  finding  that  nothing  could  prevail 
upon  them  to  recant,  they  made  a  large  fire  into  which 
they  were  all  thrown  and  consumed  to  ashes. 

After  the  castle  had  been  taken,  the  Earl  of  Montfort 
caused  the  Abbe  de  Vaux,  a  friar,  to  preach  to  the  in- 
habitants, exhorting  them  to  acknowledge  the  Pope  and 
Church  of  Rome ;  but  they  interrupted  him,  exclaiming, 
"  we  will  not  renounce  our  religion ;  you  labour  to  no  pur- 


122,  History  of  the  Christian  Church.         [ch.  v. 

pose,  for  neither  life  nor  death,  shall  induce  us  to  abandon 
our  profession."  On  this  the  Earl  and  the  legate  com- 
manded a  hundred  and  eighty  men  and  women  to  be  com- 
mitted to  the  flames  !  These  went,  it  is  said,  with  cheerful- 
ness, blessing  God  that  he  was  pleased  to  confer  on  them 
the  honour  of  dying  for  his  sake;  at  the  same  time  warn- 
ing the  Earl  of  Montfort  that  he  would  one  day  pay  dearly 
for  his  cruelties  towards  them.  All  who  witnessed  their 
courage  and  constancy  were  astonished.* 

But  I  must  not  attempt  to  prosecute  in  minute  detail, 
the  history  of  this  religious  crusade,  which  was  carried  on 
against  the  Albigenses,  during  almost  the  whole  of  the  first 
thirty  years  of  this  century,  and  Avith  varied  success;  for 
besides  that  it  could  administer  to  the  reader  little  of  either 
profitable  instruction  or  edification,  it  would  carry  me  far 
beyond  the  limits  prescribed  by  my  publication.  The 
reader  who  has  never  had  an  opportunity  of  exploring  the 
history  of  this  period,  can  scarcely  conceive  the  scenes  of 
baseness,  perfidy,  barbarity,  indecency,  and  hypocrisy, 
over  which  Pope  Innocent  III.  presided.  The  bare  re- 
flection of  three  hundred  thousand  men,  actuated  by  the 
motives  of  avarice  and  superstition,  filling  the  country  of 
the  Albigenses  with  carnage  and  confusion,  during  a  period 
of  twenty  years,  is,  in  itself,  suflicient  to  harrow  up  the 
soul;  but  to  go  into  any  thing  like  a  circumstantial  detail 
of  all  the  multifarious  atrocities  which  belong  to  it,  would 
only  be  to  impose  upon  the  reader  an  obligation  to  throw 
aside  the  book,  from  a  regard  to  his  own  feelings.  I  must 
therefore  be  brief. 

Having  got  possession  of  the  castle  of  Minerva,  Earl 
Montfort  next  laid  siege  to  that  of  Preissan,  or,  as  it  is 
often  called  Termes,  in  the  district  of  Narbonne,  a  place 
which  seemed  invincible  to  human  force;  but  the  garrison 
being  reduced  to  great  distress   for  want  of  water,  aban- 


*  Clarke's  IVIartyrolojy,  p.  1 10.    Perrin's  History  of  the  Albigenses, 
p.  ii.  b.  iii.  ch.  7. 


SECT.  VI.]  Insolence  of  the  Inquisitors.  123 

doned  the  place  by  night,  and  made  good  their  retreat 
undiscovered  by  the  enemy.  The  castle  of  La  Vaur  was 
next  besieged,  and  after  six  months  taken  by  assault,  when 
all  its  brave  defenders  were  put  to  the  sword,  except  eighty 
gentlemen  whom  the  Earl  caused  to  be  ignominiously 
hanged,  and  Lord  Almeric  on  a  gibbet  higher  than  the  rest. 
And  with  respect  to  the  other  inhabitants,  it  was  put  to 
their  option  whether  they  would  conform  to  the  church  of 
Rome  or  perish  by  the  flames.  They  almost  without  ex- 
ception chose  the  latter,  and  about  four  hundred  persons 
thus  precipitated  themselves  into  the  flames,  joyfully  yield- 
ing up  their  spirits  into  the  hand  of  God.* 

The  Count  de  Foix,  who  had  been  peculiarly  interested 
in  the  defence  of  Preissan,  was  very  favourably  disposed 
towards  the  Albigenses,  and  consequently  much  discon- 
certed at  the  loss  of  the  place.  The  Earl  of  Toulouse, 
also,  began  to  be  much  alarmed  at  the  successes  of  IMont- 
fort,  and,  apprehensive  for  his  own  safety  and  that  of  his 
subjects,  roused  many  of  the  neighbouring  barons,  and 
collected  a  considerable  force,  which  be  brought  to  the 
assistance  of  the  Count  de  Foix.  Their  union  suddenl}- 
changed  the  aspect  of  affairs.  Montfort  was  stripped  of 
almost  all  his  conquests,  and  a  complete  revolution  was 
nearly  effected;  but  in  a  general  engagement,  which  took 
place  in  the  valley  of  Theniere,  they  were  defeated,  and 
the  courage  of  the  party  began  again  to  droop. 

Success  raised  the  pride  and  demands  of  the  inquisitors. 
Conditions  were  now  prescribed,  to  which  no  man  of  spirit 
could  agree — "That  Earl  Raymond  should  lay  down  his 
arms,  without  retaining  one  soldier  or  auxiliary;  that  he 
should  not  only  submit  absolutely  and  for  ever  to  the 
church,  but  that  he  should  repair  and  refund  whatever 
losses  the  church  might  have  sustained  by  the  war — that 
in  all  his  territories,  no  one  should  ever  eat  more  than  two 
kinds  of  flesh — that  he  should  expel  all  heretics,  and  their 

'■"'  Clarke's  Marty rology,  p.  111. 


124  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [en.  v. 

allies  and  abettors  from  his  dominions — that  within  a  year 
and  a  day  he  should  deliver  up  to  the  Count  de  Montfort, 
every  person  whom  he  should  name  or  require,  to  be  pu- 
nished or  disposed  of  as  the  Count  might  think  fit — that 
his  subjects  should  never  wear  any  jewels,  nor  fine  clothes, 
nor  caps,  nor  bonnets,  of  any  other  colour  than  black — 
that  all  his  fortifications  should  be  demolished — that  no 
relative,  or  friend  of  his,  should  reside  in  any  city,  but  in 
the  country  only — that  no  new  tax  should  be  levied  by 
him,  but  that  every  head  of  a  family  in  his  territories 
should  annually  pay  four  deniers  to  the  pope's  legate — 
that  the  tiends  should  be  paid  over  all  his  lands — that  the 
papal  legate  should  never  be  required  to  pay  any  toll,  or 
other  impost,  while  travelling  through  the  country  under 
his  jurisdiction — that  Ra>aiiond  should  associate  himself 
with  the  knights  of  St.  John,  and  go  into  voluntary  exile 
as  a  crusader  to  the  holy  land,  never  to  return  without 
leave,  and  finally  that  he  should  not  have  his  lands  restored 
nntil  he  had  complied  with  all  these  demands." 

In  the  3'ear  1215,  Pope  Innocent  III.  convened  the 
famous  council  of  Lateran,  at  which  Dominic  was  present, 
and  many  decrees  against  heretics  enacted.  To  this  coun- 
cil both  the  Earl  of  Toulouse  and  his  son  Raymond  had 
recourse,  and  urged  their  plea  against  Montfort,  who  had 
usurped  their  dominions.  The  council,  however,  decreed, 
Earl  Raymond  to  be  for  ever  excluded  from  his  dominions, 
which  he  had  governed  ill,  and  ordered  him  to  remain  in 
some  convenient  place  out  of  his  dominions,  with  a  view  to 
his  giving  suitable  proofs  of  his  repentance.  Four  hundred 
marks  of  silver  Avere,  nevertheless,  assigned  him  annually 
out  of  his  revenues,  as  long  as  he  behaved  himself  with  an 
humble  obedience;  but  his  possessions  were  adjudged  to 
Montfort.  Upon  this  decree,  the  Earl  went  into  Spain, 
and  his  son  into  Provence,  where  they  raised  auxiliary 
forces,  and  were  not  only  enabled  to  continue  the  war 
against  Montfort,  but  actually  recovered  some  part  of  the 
Earl's  dominions,  and  even  i)is  capital,  the  city  of  Toulouse. 


SECT.  VI.]        Death  of  the  Earl  of  Montfort.  125 

Whilst  Montfort  was  endeavouring  to  retake  it,  he  was 
struck  by  a  stone,  wiiich  instantly  killed  him,  in  the  year 
1218,  and  the  city  was  delivered  from  the  siege. 

In  the  course  of  the  war  the  castle  of  Minerva  having 
surrendered  to  the  Catholic  army,  the  Abbe  de  Cisteaux, 
who,  ever  since  the  election  of  Montfort  to  its  command, 
had  continued  the  chief  counsellor  of  the  crusaders,  hesi- 
tated for  some  time,  how  he  should  dispose  of  the  garrison 
and  inhabitants.  "  He  sincerely  desired  the  death  of  the 
enemies  of  Jesus  Christ,"  says  the  author  of  the  history  of 
the  Albigenses,  "  but  being  a  priest  and  a  monk,  he  could 
not  agree  to  the  slaughter  of  the  citizens,  if  they  would  be 
converted.  Robert  Mauvoisin,  a  zealot  in  the  arm}',  dis- 
satisfied with  this  appearance  of  humanity  and  condescen- 
sion, insisted  that  they  had  come  there,  not  to  favour 
heretics,  but  to  exterminate  them.  In  this  dilemma,  the 
blood-thirsty  monk  was  relieved  from  his  embarrassment, 
by  the  higher  tone,  not  the  fiercer  spirit,  of  a  third  person, 
who  exclaimed,  '  Fear  not,  probably  not  one  of  them  will 
accept  of  the  alternative!'  The  event  proved  the  correct- 
ness of  his  judgment,  for  the  piles  being  kindled,  they 
generally  precipitated  themselves  into  the  flames."* 

Earl  Raymond  did  not  long  enjoy  the  possession  of  his 
dominions,  which  he  had  reconquered,  for  he  died  in  the 
year  1221,  and  was  succeeded  by  his  son,  the  young  Ray- 
mond, who  soon  after  banished  the  inquisition  from  the 
country  of  Toulouse.  Pope  Innocent  III.  also  died  about 
the  same  time,  and  was  succeeded  by  Honorius  III.,  who 
was  no  sooner  elevated  to  power  than  he  issued  his  denun- 
ciations against  all  heretics,  and  violators  of  the  ecclesi- 
astical immunity,  in  the  following  rescript,  which  was  sent 
into  France.  "  We  excommunicate  all  heretics  of  both 
sexes,  and  of  whatsoever  sect,  with  their  favourers,  receivers, 
and  defenders;  and,  moreover,  all  those  who  cause  any 
edicts  or  customs,  contrary  to  the  liberty  of  the  church,  to 

*  Hist.  Albigens.  cap.  37.  in  Rankin's  France,  Vol.  III.  p.  214. 
Vol.  II.  S 


126  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [ch.  v. 

be  observed,  unless  they  remove  them  from  their  public 
records  in  two  months  after  the  publication  of  this  sentence. 
Also  we  excommunicate  the  makers  and  the  writers  of 
those  statutes,  and  moreover,  all  governors,  consuls,  rulers, 
and  counsellors  of  places  where  such  statutes  and  customs 
shall  be  published  and  kept,  and  all  those  who  shall  pre- 
sume to  pass  judgment,  or  to  publish  such  judgments,  as 
shall  be  made  according  to  them." 

The  conduct  of  the  young  Raymond  had  rendered  him 
peculiarly  obnoxious  to  the  new  pontiff,  who  took  care  to 
inform  him,  that  unless  he  returned  to  his  duty,  he  should 
be  stripped  of  his  dominions,  as  his  father  had  been ;  and 
by  letters,  bearing  date  the  8th  of  November,  1221,  he 
confirmed  the  sentence  of  the  legate,  by  which  he  deprived 
him  of  all  his  right  in  every  country  that  had  ever  been 
subject  to  his  father;  and  that  this  sentence  might  want 
nothing  of  its  full  force,  he  commanded  the  Dominicans  to 
proclaim  a  holy  war  against  heretics,  to  be  called  the  pe- 
nance war.  At  the  sound  of  this  horrid  trumpet,  multi- 
tudes rushed  to  the  standard,  enrolling  themselves  in  this 
holy  society,  as  they  presumptuously  imagined  it  to  be, 
wearing  a  black  cloak  over  a  white  garment,  and  receiving 
the  sacrament  of  the  eucharist,  for  the  defence  of  the  Catho- 
lic faith. 

The  more  effectually  to  subdue  the  Earl  of  Toidouse, 
the  Pope  transmitted  his  letters  to  Louis,  king  of  France, 
exhorting  him  to  take  arms  against  the  Albigenses,  in  the 
following  extraordinary  words.  " '  Tis  the  command  of  God 
who  says.  If  thou  shalt  hear  say  in  any  one  of  thy  cities 
which  the  Lord  thy  God  hath  given  thee  to  dwell  there, 
saying,  let  us  go  and  serve  other  gods,  which  ye  have  not 
known,  tliou  shalt  smite  the  inhabitants  of  that  city  with 
Uhe  edge  of  the  sword.  Although  you  are  under  many 
obligations  already  to  God,  for  the  great  benefits  hitherto 
received  from  him,  from  whom  comes  every  good  and  per- 
fect gift,  yet  you  ought  to  reckon  yourself  more  especiall}' 
obliged  courageously  to  exert  yourself  for  him  against  the 


SECT.  VI.]         Siege  of  the  city  of  Avignon.  127 

subverters  of  the  faith,  by  whom  he  is  blasphemed,  and 
manfully  to  defend  the  catholic  purity,  which  many  in  those 
parts,  adhering  to  the  doctrines  of  devils,  are  known  to  have 
cast  off." 

This  profound  logic  was  too  irresistible  to  be  withstood 
by  Louis,  who  began  to  collect  an  army  of  crusaders,  at 
the  head  of  which  he  placed  himself,  and  sat  down  before 
the  city  of  Avignon.  Raymond,  at  that  time,  held  several 
cautionary  lands  of  the  king  of  England ;  and  the  Pope, 
suspecting  that  he  might  possibly  apply  for  assistance  to 
our  Enghsh  monarch  to  enable  him  to  defend  them,  wrote 
to  caution  him  not  to  take  up  arms  against  the  French 
king,  in  these  words,  "  IVlake  no  war,  either  by  youi'self, 
or  your  brother,  or  any  other  person,  on  the  said  king,  so 
long  as  he  is  engaged  in  the  alTair  of  the  faith  and  service 
of  Jesus  Christ,  lest  b}^  your  obstructing  the  matter,  which 
God  forbid  you  should  do,  the  king  with  his  prelates  and 
barons  of  France,  should  be  forced  to  turn  their  arms  from 
the  extirpation  of  heretics  to  their  own  defence.  As  for 
us,  since  we  could  not  excuse  such  a  conduct,  an  instance  of 
great  indevotion,  we  could  not  impart  to  you  our  paternal 
favour,  which,  under  other  circumstances,  at  all  proper  sea- 
sons, should  never  be  wanting  to  you.  And  as  we  are  not 
only  ready  to  do  3'ou  justice,  but  even  to  show  you  favour, 
as  far  as  God  enables  us,  we  have  taken  care,  that  whatever 
becomes  of  heretics  and  their  lands,  your  rights  and  those 
of  other  Catholics  shall  be  safe." 

The  city  of  Avignon  was  defended  by  Earl  Raymond 
w  ith  great  bravery,  and  multitudes  of  the  French  ami}  fell 
during  the  siege.  For,  besides  those  that  were  killed  in 
the  ordinary  mode  of  warfare,  the  army  was  afflicted  with 
a  dysentery  and  other  diseases,  which  carried  off  numbers, 
and  among  the  rest  the  French  monarch.  The  pope's  le- 
gate, for  some  time,  concealed  the  death  of  the  king,  lest 
the  army  should  break  up  with  disgrace  from  the  siege  of 
a  single  city,  without  being  able  to  take  it.  Finding,  how- 
ever, that  it  was  not  to  be  conquered  by  force,  the  legate 


128  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [en.  v. 

had  recourse  to  fraud ;  and  even  these  measures  for  some 
time  failed  him.  He  then  desired  that  he  might  be  admitted 
into  the  city,  in  company  with  his  prelates,  under  the  pre- 
tence that  he  would  examine  into  the  faith  of  the  inhabitants, 
and  affirming  with  an  oath  that  he  put  off"  the  siege  of  the 
city  for  no  other  cause  than  the  welfare  of  their  souls.  He 
added,  that  the  cry  of  their  infidelity  had  ascended  to  the 
Pope;  and  that  he  wislied  to  inquire  whether  they  had 
done  altogether  accordhig  to  the  cry  that  had  come  up  be- 
fore him.  The  too  credulous  citizens,  not  suspecting  the 
fraud,  and  especially  relying  upon  the  sacredness  of  his 
oath,  opened  their  gates,  on  which  the  soldiers  of  the 
French  army,  as  had  been  previously  determined,  rushed 
violently  into  the  city,  seized  the  citizens,  bound  them  in 
chains,  plundered  their  hou^fes,  killed  numbers  of  the  inha- 
bitants, and  having  thus,  by  treachery,  got  possession,  they 
brake  down  the  towers,  and  destroyed  the  walls  of  that 
noble  city.  Such  is  the  narrative  of  the  monk  of  St.  Al- 
bans, Matthew  Paris. 

Avignon  being  thus  taken,  the  crusaders  next  bent  all 
their  forces  against  Toulouse.  This  city,  which  was  most 
gallantly  defended,  maintained  a  long  siege,  but  it  was  at 
length  taken,  in  1221,  and  young  Raymond  compelled  to 
submit  to  terms  even  more  severe  than  those  which  were 
proposed  to  his  father  in  the  council  of  Aries.  From  this 
period  the  Albigenses  declined  greatly  in  France.  For, 
being  no  longer  permitted  to  find  an  asylum  under  any  of 
the  reigning  princes,  such  of  them  as  escaped  the  edge  of 
the  sword,  and  the  vengeance  of  their  adversaries,  fled  for 
refuge  into  the  valleys  of  Piedmont  and  other  places,  dis- 
persing themselves  in  every  direction,  as  will  be  shown  in 
the  ensuing  section,  wherever  they  could  enjoy  quietness 
and  the  liberty  of  worshipping  God  agreeably  to  the  exer- 
cise of  a  good  conscience. 

As  to  the  ordinary  manner  of  proceeding  with  such  as 
fell  into  their  hands  captives  of  war,  a  single  extract  from 
Limborch's  history  may  suffice  to  show.     "  A  person  of  the 


SECT.  VI.]      Cruelty  injlicted  on  the  Albigenses.  129 

name  of  Robert,"  says  he,  quoting  the  Annals  of  Bzovius 
and  of  Raynaldus,  1207,  Stc,  "who  had  been  of  the  sect  of 
the  Albigenses,  but  afterwards  joined  the  Dominicans,  sup- 
ported by  the  authority  of  the  princes  and  magistrates, 
burnt  all  who  persisted  in  their  heresy.  Within  two  months 
he  caused  fifty  persons,  without  distinction  of  sex,  either  to 
be  burnt  or  buried  ahve,  whence  he  was  called  'the  Ham- 
mer of  the  Heretics.'  In  1211  they  took  the  city  of  Alby, 
and  there  put  numbers  to  death.  They  took  la  Vaur  by 
storm,  and  burnt  in  it  multitudes  of  the  Albigenses.  They 
hanged  Almeric,  the  governor  of  that  city,  who  was  of  a 
very  noble  family ;  and  beheaded  eighty  of  the  inferior 
rank,  not  sparing  the  females.  They  threw  the  sister  of 
Almeric,  who  was  the  principal  lady  of  the  sect  of  the  Albi- 
genses, into  a  well,  and  covered  her  with  stones.  After- 
wards they  conquered  Carcum,  and  put  sixty  men  to 
death.  They  seized  on  Pulchra  Vallis,  a  large  city  near 
Toulouse,  committed  four  hundred  Albigenses  to  tiie  flames, 
and  hanged  fifty  more."  Thuanus,  that  impartial  Catholic 
writer,  in  the  History  of  his  own  Times,  book  vi.,  confirms 
this  dreadful  statement  in  its  general  results,  and  further 
adds,  "that  after  the  capture  of  La  Vaur,  the  towns  of  Les 
Cures,  Rabastains,  Gaillac,  St.  Marcel,  St.  Anthonin,  Cau- 
sae, and  Moisac,  were  stormed,  and  a  great  massacre  made 
of  the  townsmen  by  the  conquerors.  The  castle  of  Perre 
in  the  Agenois  having  after  a  long  siege  capitulated,  seven- 
ty of  the  soldiers  were  hanged,  and  the  others  who  adhered 
to  their  errors  were  burnt  alive.  Nor  was  Paris  itself  ex- 
empt from  this  contagion,  for  fourteen  persons,  most  of 
whom  were  priests  (teachers  among  the  Albigenses)  being 
convicted  of  this  error  expired  in  the  flames.  In  England 
they  were  handled  with  more  mildness,  if  loss  of  life  be  the 
measure  of  punishment,  but  with  more  ignominy ;  the  con- 
victed persons  being  branded  with  a  hot  iron  on  their  shoul- 
ders, or  even  on  their  foreheads." 

But,  independent  of  those  that  fell  by  the  edge  of  the 
sword,  or  were  committed  to  the  flames  by  the  soldiers  and 


130  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [ch.  t. 

magistrates,  the  inquisition  was  constantly  at  work,  from 
the  year  1206  to  1228,  and  produced  the  most  dreadful 
havoc  among-  the  disciples  of  Christ.  Of  the  effects  occa- 
sioned by  this  infernal  engine  of  cruelty  and  oppression, 
we  may  have  some  notion  from  this  circumstance, — that  in 
the  last-mentioned  year  the  archbishops  of  Aix,  Aries,  and 
Narbonne,  found  it  necessary  to  intercede  with  the  monks 
of  the  inquisition,  to  defer  a  little  their  work  of  imprison- 
ment, until  the  Pope  was  apprised  of  the  immense  numbers 
appreliended — numbers  so  great,  that  it  was  impossible  to 
defray  the  charge  of  their  subsistence,  or  even  to  provide 
stone  and  mortar  to  build  prisons  for  them.  Their  own 
language,  indeed,  is  so  remarkable,  that  it  deserves  to  be 
laid  before  the  reader,  and  here  it  is. 

"It  has  come  to  our  knowledge,"  say  they,  "that  you 
have  apprehended  so  many  of  the  Waldenses,  that  it  is  not 
only  impossible  to  defray  the  charges  of  their  subsistence, 
but  also  to  provide  stone  and  mortar  to  build  prisons  for 
them.  We,  therefore,  advise  you  to  defer  for  awhile  aug- 
menting their  numbers,  until  the  Pope  be  apprised  of  the 
great  multitudes  that  have  been  apprehended,  and  until  he 
notify  what  he  pleases  to  have  done  in  this  case.  Nor  is 
there  any  reason  you  should  take  offence  hereat ;  for  as  to 
those  who  are  altogether  impenitent  and  incorrigible,  or 
concerning  whom  you  may  doubt  of  their  relapse  or  es- 
cape, or  that,  being  at  large  again,  they  would  infect  others, 
you  may  condemn  such  without  delay.''''* 

Such  is  the  representation  given  us  by  writers  of  unim- 
peachable veracity,  of  the  merciless  treatment  which  the 
Albigenses  received  from  the  Catholics  at  this  period,  pure- 
ly on  account  of  their  religious  profession. f      Before  I  dis- 

*  Perrin's  Hist,  des  Vaudois,  b.  ii.  ch.  ii. 

f  In  the  council  of  Toulouse,  held  in  the  year  1229,  a  most  severe  and 
sanguinary  inquisition  was  established  against  heretics.  One  of  its 
canons  is,  '  It  shall  not  be  permitted  to  laymen  to  have  the  books  of 
the  Old  and  New  Testament;  only  they  who  out  of  devotion  desire  it, 
may  have  a  Psalter,  a  Breviary,  and  the  hours  of  the  Virgin.    But  we 


SECT.  VI.]  Peaceable  principles  of  the  Alhigenses.  131 

miss  the  subject,  it  may  be  proper  to  notice  a  difficulty 
which  will  strike  the  minds  of  reflecting  readers.  It  has 
been  intimated  both  by  the  friends  and  enen)ios  of  the  Wal- 
denses,  that  they  had  religious  scruples  against  bearing 
arms,  and  even  shedding  the  blood  of  animals  unnecessa- 
rily. The  question,  therefore,  naturally  presents  itself, 
"Were  they  at  last  driven  to  the  necessity  of  taking  up  the 
sword  in  defence  of  their  religion  and  lives  V  Upon  the 
lawfulness  or  unlawfulness  of  doing  so,  when  pressed  by 
djre  necessity,  I  shall  offer  no  opinion  in  this  place.  My 
business  is  to  state  facts  as  I  find  them ;  and,  that  the  reader 
may  not  suspect  me  of  a  wish  to  misrepresent  their  princi- 
ples and  conduct  in  the  instance  referred  to,  I  shall  quote 
the  words  of  Mr.  Robinson,  who  had  much  better  means  of 
information  than  have  fallen  to  my  lot. 

"  The  difficulty  here  is,"  says  he,  "  how  such  people  as 
bore  no  arms,  and  shed  no  blood,  could  be  said  to  bring 
large  armies  into  the  field  to  defend  their  riglits.  The  pro- 
per answer  is — the  pious  were  named  from  the  provinces, 
the  provinces  and  princes  from  the  pious  ;  for  one  common 
principle,  that  all  mankind  had  a  right  to  be  free,  brought 
together  Goths  and  professors  of  the  gospel.  Both  loved 
liberty — the  latter  paid  for  it  by  taxes,  the  fruits  of  their 
industry,  and  the  former  fought  for  it,  and,  by  defending 
one,  preserved  both  parties.  The  church  of  Rome  h?ving 
adopted  clerical  dominion  as  an  article  of  orthodox  belief, 
it  followed  of  course,  that  resistance  to  that,  was  heresy 
both  political  and  religious.  Too  many  historians  take  up 
the  afl'air  in  the  gross,  lay  it  down  as  they  took  it  up,  and 
gravely  say,  the  Lord,  by  a  course  of  miracles,  assisted  his 

absolutely  forhid  them  to  have  the  above-mentioned  books  translat'  d  into 
the  vulgar  tongue.''  "  This  is  the  first  tidie,  (says  tlie  Abbe  Fleui y,  in 
his  Ecclesiastical  History,)  that  1  have  met  with  this  prohibition:  but 
it  may  be  favourably  explained  by  observing  that  the  minds  of  men 
being  then  much  irritated,  there  was  no  other  meiiiixi  of  nutting'  a  stop 
to  contentions,  than  by  taking  away  from  them  the  Holy  Soriplures, 
of  which  the  heretics  made  a  bad  use."  A  poor  excuse  indeed  !  says 
Dr.  Jortin.     Remarks,  Vol.  IH.  p.  311. 


132  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [ch.  v. 

dear  servants  the  Catholics  to  drown,  stab,  and  burn,  forty 
thousand  heretics — because  they  (the  Catholics)  were  afraid 
of  their  lives,  in  a  society  of  people  who  had  such  an  aver- 
sion to  the  taking  away  [even]  of  animal  life,  that  they 
never  killed  a  bird,  from  a  sparrow  to  an  eagle ;  or  a  qua- 
druped, from  a  weasel  to  an  elephant  ;*  and  who  perpetu- 
ally exclaimed  against  penal  laws,  and  thought  it  wrong 
to  take  away  the  life  of  a  man." 

A  proper  attention  to  this  matter,  may  probably  help  us 
to  solve  many  things  in  the  writings  of  the  Catholics  them- 
selves, which  must  otherwise  prove  extremely  perplexing. 
Thus,  for  instance,  several  of  their  own  writers  describe 
the  battle  which  proved  so  fatal  to  the  cause  of  the  Albi- 
genses.  "In  the  year  1213,  the  Christian  army  of  eight 
hundred  horse  and  one  thousand  foot,  near  Toulouse,  be- 
ing divided  into  three  corps,  in  honour  of  the  Holy  Trinity, 
the  first,  under  the  command  of  Simon,  Count  of  Montfort, 
the  second  commanded  by  the  Lord  Bishop  of  Toulouse, 
and  the  third  by  the  Lord  Bishop  of  Cominge,  attacked 
the  army  of  the  heretics,  consisting  of  a  hundred  thou- 
sand fighting  men,  and  defeated  them.  The  Catholics  lost 
about  a  hundred  men,  but  of  the  Albigenses,  two  and  thirty 
thousand  were  either  killed  or  drowned  in  the  river  Ga- 
ronne."!     This  they  call  the  battle  of  Muret,J  and  they 

*  Mr.  Robinson  has  here  given  the  very  words  of  the  inquisitor  Rei- 
nerius,  who,  describing  the  Waldenses.  says,  "Ita,  est  communis  opi- 
nio Catharorum,  quod  graviter  peccaret,  quicumque  occiderit  avem 
aliquam  a  minima  usque  ad  maximam  ;  et  quadrupedia,  a  mustela 
usque  ad  eiephantem."  That  is,  "  It  is  also  a  common  opinion  among 
tlie  Puritans  [Cathari)  that  man  sins  grievously  who  kills  any  bird, 
from  the  least  to  the  greatest — or  a  quadruped,  from  a  weasel  to  an 
elephant." — Contra  Waldenses,  cap.  vi. 

f  Voltaire's  remark  upon  this  curious  piece  of  Catholic  history,  may 
be  thought  by  some  not  altogether  impertinent.  "  Is  it  at  all  likely," 
he  asks,  "■  that  onl}'  eighteen  hundred  men  would  attack  an  army  of  a 
hundred  thousand  in  the  open  field,  and  divide  themselves  into  three 
bodies.''  •  It  is  a  miracle,'  some  writers  will  say,  but  military  people, 
upon  reading  such  a  story,  will  tell  them  it  is  nonsense  and  absur- 
dity."    Geupral  History,  Vol.  I.  ch.  1. 

\  A  singular  disclosure  was  made  after  this  battle,  and  as  the  circum- 


SECT.  VI.]  Peaceable  principles  of  the  Albigenses.  133 

d  d,  that  after  this  victory  many  of  the  surviving  heretics 
fled  into  the  valleys  of  Piedmont,  where  their  descendants 
resided,  till  two  hundred  years  after,  when  Huss  revived  the 
same  heresy  in  Bohemia,  and  Luther  in  German}^,  about 
a  hundred  years  after  him.  The  explanation  of  all  this 
miracle  is,  that  the  cities  and  towns  that  were  attacked  by 
the  crusaders  were  peopled  with  mechanics,  manufacturers, 
and  husbandmen  of  the  kind  described  by  the  inquisitors — 
an  industrious  and  virtuous  people,  who  took  no  oaths,  ob- 
jected to  wars  of  every  kind,  and  refused  to  shed  the  blood 
of  a  fellow-creature,  even  in  defence  of  their  own  lives. 
Such  appears  plainly  to  have  been  the  case  with  the  Albi- 
genses. The  Count  of  Toulouse,  and  the  barons  and  vas- 
sals that  constituted  his  army,  no  doubt  acted  upon  differ- 
ent maxims ;  for,  had  they  followed  out  the  principles  of 
these  Albigenses,  they  would  have  dissolved  the  whole  feu- 
dal system ;  but  they  approved  of  the  conduct  of  these 
people  in  dissenting  from  the  communion  of  the  church  of 
Rome,  admired  the  simplicity  of  their  doctrine  and  worship, 
and,  to  the  utmost  of  their  power,  protected  them  from  the 
rage  of  their  bigoted  and  sanguinary  persecutors, 

stance  tends  to  throw  a  ray  of  light  upon  the  secret  history  of  these 
times,  it  deserves  to  be  recorded.  When  the  battle  of  Muret  was  over, 
there  was  found  among-  the  slain  belonging-  to  the  Albigenses  a  knight 
in  black  armour.  On  examining,  behold  it  was  discovered  to  be  Pe- 
ter, king  of  Arragon — that  very  monarch,  who  had  formerly  been  en- 
gaged in  negotiating  between  the  pope's  legate  and  the  Earl  of  Be- 
ziers.  (See  p.  116  )  There  also  lay  one  of  his  sons,  and  many  of  the 
Arragoniati  gentlemen  and  vassals,  who,  while  ostensibly  supporting 
the  Roman  church,  had.  in  disjruisp.  been  fig-hting  in  defenre  of  the 
Albigenses  '■  I 


ir.  T   « 


i34  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [ch.  v. 


SZiCTZOXff   VIZ. 

Some  account  of  the  state  of  the  Waldenses  from  the  period 
of  the  suppression  of  their  churches  in  France  to  the  mid- 
dle of  the  fourteenth  century.     A.  D.  1230 — 1350. 

While  the  demon  of  pei-secutiou  was  raging  with  resist- 
less fury  against  the  Albigenses  in  the  southern  provinces 
of  France,  the  inhabitants  of  the  valleys  of  Piedmont  ap- 
pear to  have  enjo3'cd  a  large  portion  of  external  peace; — 
their  churches  had  rest,  and  walking  in  the  fear  of  the 
Lord  and  the  comforts  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  were  edified  and 
multiplied.  The  kind  providence  of  God  appeared  m 
blessing  them  with  a  succession  of  mild  and  tolerant  princes, 
in  the  Dukes  of  Savoy,*  who  continually  receiving  the 
most  favourable  reports  of  them,  as  a  people  simple  in 
their  manners,  free  from  deceit  and  malice,  upright  in  their 
dealings,  loyal  to  their  governors,  and  ever  ready  to  yield 
them  a  cheerful  obedience  in  every  thing  but  the  concern? 
of  religion,  turned  a  deaf  ear  to  the  repeated  solicitations 
of  priests  and  monks,  and,  from  the  beginning  of  the  thir- 
teenth century  until  the  3ear  1487,  a  period  of  nearly  three 
hundred  years,  peremptorily  refused  to  disturb  or  molest 
them. 

An  effort  was  made  to  introduce  the  inquisition  into 
Piedmont,  but  the  proceedings  in  France  had  sufiiciently 
opened  the  eyes  of  the  inliabitants  to  the  spirit  and  prin- 
ciples of  that  infernal   court,   and  they  Avisely  resisted  its 


*  I\Ir.  Robinson,rcferring-  to  this  subject,  lias  the  followinp^  pertinent 
remark.  "  It  is  a  curious  phenomenon  in  politics,  that  (he  family 
which  allowed  its  subjects  religious  liberty',  when  all  other  princes  op- 
pressed conscience,  should,  in  a  country  enthusiastically  fond  of 
liberty,  become,  in  the  end,  the  most  absolute  monarclis  in  the  Chris- 
tian world.  Such  is  the  king  of  Sardinia,  who  is  also  duke  of  Suvoy, 
and  to  whose  eldest  son,  the  heir  apparent,  the  title  of  the  Prince  of 
Piedmont  is  hereditary."    Eccles.  Researches,  p.  459. 


SECT.  VII.]     Inquisition  opposed  at  Milan,  ^-c.  135 

establishment  among  them.  An  inquisitor  of  the  name  of 
Peter  of  Verona,  had  been  deputed  by  the  Pope  to  carry 
the  project  into  cflcct;  but  we  are  told  by  Ludovicus  a 
Paramo,  a  Spanish  writer  of  those  times,  that  "  the  people 
made  a  martijr  of  him,  either  at  Turin  or  Susa."*  At 
]Milan,  also,  tlie  united  power  of  pope  Pious  IV.  and  Philip 
II.  of  Spain,  was  found  insuflicient  to  introduce  the  inqui- 
sition; the  mob  rose  at  the  bare  proposal  of  it,  and  Hew 
lo  arms,  exclaiming  it  was  a  system  of  tyranny,  and  not  of 
religion.  Even  the  senate  protested  against  it  as  inimical 
to  trade,  repugnant  to  the  free  constitution  of  the  cities  of 
Italy,  and  incompatible  with  the  Milanese  forms  of  law, 
on  which  grounds  they  opposed  its  introduction.  Naples 
and  Venice  also  successfully  resisted  the  mquisitorial  scheme; 
and,  as  the  populace  in  almost  every  part  of  Italy  formed 
insurrections  against  the  inquisitors,  evincing  the  most  de- 
termined spu'it  oi'  hostility  against  them,  the  states  prudently 
availed  themselves  of  this  temper  of  mind,  and  pretended 
they  were  afraid  of  exasperating  the  people  should  they 
introduce  the  independent  power  of  the  holy  office. 

The  scenes  of  slaughter  and  devastation  which  had  beeti 
carried  on  against  the  Albigenses,  in  the  southern  provinces 
of  France,  for  more  than  twenty  years,  during  the  former 
part  of  the  thirteenth  century,  in  which  time  it  has  been 
computed  that  a  million  of  persons  bearing  that  name  were 
put  to  death, f  had  occasioned  many  of  them  to  cross  tlie 
Pyrenees  and  seek  a  shelter  from  the  storm  in  the  Spanish 
provinces  of  Arragon  and  Catalonia.  Matthew  Paris,  in 
his  History  of  the  reign  of  Henry  111.,  takes  notice  of  tliis 


*  Limborch,  on  the  authority  of  Peg^na  in  Eymeric,  says,  "  as  he 
was  joins'  from  Como  to  Milan,  A.  D.  1252,  to  extirpate  heresy,  a 
certain  believer  of  heretics  attacked  him  in  his  journey,  and  dispatched 
him  with  many  wounds.  He  was  canonized  and  worshipped  as  a 
martyr." 

f  Mode  on  tlie  Apocalypse,  p.  503.  and  Newton  on  the  Prophecies, 
Vol.  11.  p.  257.  cJth  cd.  1789.  Clarke  in  his  Martyrolog-y  doubles  th« 
number  I 


136  History  of  the  Christian  Church.         [cH.  v. 

circumstance,  and  informs  us  that  in  the  year  1214,  during 
the  pontificate  of  Alexander  IV.,  there  were  great  numbers 
of  Waldenses  in  these  provinces,  of  which  the  Pope  bitterly 
complained  in  one  of  his  bulls,  saying  that  1,hey  had  per- 
mitted them  to  gain  such  a  footing,  and  given  them  such 
time  to  increase  and  multiply,  that  the  evil  loudly  called 
for  a  *emedy.  He  further  adds,  that  they  had  several 
churches  duly  set  in  order  with  their  bishops  and  deacons, 
in  which  they  publicly  and  boldly  preached  their  doctrine. 
Hither  the  vigilance  of  the  inquisitors  traced  their  steps, 
and  accordingly,  in  the  year  1232,  the  inquisition  was 
brought  into  Arragon.  A  further  inducement,  indeed,  to 
this  was,  that  the  bishop  of  Huesca,  a  considerable  city  of 
Arragon,  was  reported  to  err  in  matters  of  faith,  and  in  all 
probability  had  so  much  humanity  in  his  composition  as  led 
him  to  connive  at  the  residence  of  heretics  in  his  diocess. 
The  office  of  making  inquisition  against  them,  was  com- 
mitted, by  Pope  Gregory  IX.,  to  a  friar  of  the  order  of 
predicants,  named  Peter  Gaderite;  and  James,  the  king  of 
Arragon  was  magisterially  enjoined  not  to  permit  him,  or 
any  of  his  assistants,  to  be  molested  in  the  discharge  of 
the  duties  of  the  inquisition.  A  commission  was  at  the 
same  time  given  to  the  archbishop  of  Tarragona,  the  me- 
tropolitan city  of  Catalonia,  and  his  suflragans,  to  constitute 
a  court  of  inquisition  there,  also,  against  heretical  pravity. 
The  following  is  a  copy  of  the  bull  ^Yhich  was  issued  for 
that  purpose. 

"  Since  the  evening  of  the  world  is  now  declining,  we 
admonish  and  beseech  your  brotherhood,  and  strictly  com- 
mand you  by  our  written  apostolic  words,  as  you  regard 
the  divine  judgment,  that  with  diligent  care  you  make 
inquiry  against  heretics,  and  render  them  infamous,  by  the 
>  assistance  of  the  friars  predicants,  and  others  whom  you 
shall  judge  fit  for  this  business;  and  that  you  proceed 
against  all  who  are  culpable  and  infamous,  according  to 
Gur  statutes  lately  published  against  heretics,  unless  they 
will  from  the  heart  absolutely  obey  the  commands  of  the 


SECT.  VII.]   (Quarrel  of  Frederic  II.  and  Gregory  IX.    13? 

church — which  statutes  we  send  you  enclosed  in  our  bull ; 
and  that  ye  also  proceed  against  the  receivers,  abettors, 
and  favourers  of  heretics,  according  to  the  same  statutes. 
But  if  any  will  wholly  a' jure  the  heretical  plague,  and 
return  to  the  ecclesiastical  unity,  grant  them  the  benefit  of 
absolution,  according  to  the  form  of  the  church,  and  enjoin 
thetn  the  usual  penance."* 

Soon  after  the  establishment  of  the  inquisition  in  Arra- 
gon  a  synod  was  convened  at  Tarragona,  when  many 
severe  decrees  were  passed  against  heretics,  and  the  holy 
office  was  erected  there  also ;  and  for  the  space  of  a  century 
and  half,  measures  of  the  greatest  rigour  were  incessantly 
carried  on  against  the  Waldenses  in  that  quarter,  before 
their  entire  extinction  could  be  efi'ected.  The  catholic 
writers  themselves  avow  these  facts,  and  acknowledge  that 
they  owed  their  ultimate  success,  in  subduing  the  heretics 
in  this  quarter,  to  the  superior  talents  and  exertions  of 
Nicholas  Eymeric,  a  predicant  monk,  and  author  of  the 
Directory  of  the  Inquisitors,  \A'ho  was  created  inquisitor- 
general,  about  the  year  1358,  and  died  January  4th,  1393, 
having  kept  up  the  office  of  the  inquisition  against  heretics" 
forty-four  years  in  succession. 

The  flight  of  Waldo  from  the  South  of  France  into  Ger- 
many, and  the  success  that  attended  him  in  preaching  the 
gospel  in  the  different  cities  which  are  situated  on  the  banks 
of  the  Rhine,  have  been  already  noticed.  We  are  informed 
that  about  the  year  1213,  Germany  and  Alsace  were  full 
of  the  Waldenses. f  Two  considerations  may  enable  us  to 
account  for  this.  One  is,  the  destructive  war  that  was 
waged  against  the  Albigenses  in  France,  supported  by  the 
terror  of  the  Inquisition,  which  would  necessarily  drive  the 
disciples  of  Christ  to  seek  security  in  other  countries.  The 
other  is,  that  a  violent  quarrel  arose  about  this  time  between 
the  Pope  and  Frederic  II.,  Emperor  of  Germany.     This 


*  Bzovius,  A.  1233.  sect.  S,  9. 

•S-  Constans  on  the  Rcre'ation.  in  Povrin.  h.  ii.  rh.  xi,. 


166  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [ch.  v. 

latter  prince,  on  his  first  ascension  to  the  throne,  had  gone 
eagerly  into  all  the  measures  of  the  court  of  Rome,  and 
issued  the  most  horrid  and  sanguinary  edicts  against  the 
Waldenscs,  as  has  been  shown  in  a  former  section.*  But 
he  had  now,  by  some  means,  incurred  the  displeasure  of 
Gregory  IX.,  who,  at  the  moment  that  Frederic  was  pro- 
secutiijg  a  war  against  the  Saracens  in  the  east,  excited  the 
emperor's  own  son  Henry,  who  had  been  elected  king  of 
the  Romans,  to  rebel  against  his  father,  in  consequence  of 
which,  the  cities  of  Lombardy  had  revolted.  The  rebellion 
was,  however,  suppressed,  the  prince  was  confined,  and 
Frederic  triumphed — but  his  troubles  were  not  ended. 
The  Pope  excommunicated  him,  and,  to  sow  division  be- 
tween him  and  the  princes  of  the  empire,  he  (A.  D.  1237) 
transmitted  a  ball  into  Germany,  in  which  were  the  follow- 
ing words,  referring  to  the  emperor. 

"  A  beast  of  blasphemy,  abounding  with  names,  is  risen 
from  the  sea,  with  the  feet  of  a  bear,  the  face  of  a  lion,  and 
members  of  other  dili'erent  animals  ;  which,  like  the  proud, 
hath  opened  its  mouth  in  blaspliemy  against  the  holy  name  ; 
not  even  fearing  to  throw  the  arrows  of  calumny  against 
the  tabernacle  of  God,  and  the  saints  that  dwell  in  heaven. 
This  beast,  desirous  of  breaking  every  thing  in  pieces  with 
his  iron  teeth  and  nails,  and  of  trampling  all  things  under 
his  feet,  hath  already  prepared  private  battering  rams 
against  the  wall  of  the  Catholic  faith  ;  and  now  raises  open 
machines,  in  erecting  soul-destroying  schools  of  Ishmaelites; 
rising,  according  to  report,  in  opposition  to  Christ,  the 
Redeemer  of  mankind,  the  table  of  whose  covenant  he  at- 
tempts to  abolish  with  the  pen  of  wicked  heresy.  Be  not, 
thereibre,  surprised  at  the  malice  of  this  blasphemous  beast, 
if  we.  who  are  the  servants  of  the  Almighty,  should  be 
exposed  to  the  arrows  of  his  destruction.  This  king  of 
plagues  was  even  heard  to  say,  that  the  whole  world  has 
been  deceived  by  three  impostors,  Moses,  Christ,  and  Ma- 

•   See  ch.  v.  sect.  v. 


SECT,  vii.]     Frederic  II.  decreed  to  lose  his  croicn.         139 

liommed ;  but  he  makes  Jesus  far  inferior  to  the  other  two. 
<  They,'  says  lie,  '  supported  then*  glory  to  the  last,  whereas 
Christ  was  ignominiously  crucified.' "  Frederic,  on  the 
other  liand,  drew  up  an  apology  to  the  princes  of  Germany, 
in  wiiich  he  terms  Gregory,  the  Great  Dragon  and  Anti- 
christ, of  whom  it  is  written,  "  and  another  red  horse 
arose  from  the  sea,  and  he  that  sat  upon  him  took  peace 
from  the  earth."* 

In  the  year  1245  Pope  Innocent  IV.  convened  the  fa- 
mous council  of  Lyons,  concerning  wiiich  the  following 
inscription  is  preserved  in  the  Vatican  Library  at  Rome. 
"The  thirteenth  general  council,  and  the  first  of  Lyons  : 
Frederic  11.  is  tliere  declared  an  enemy  to  the  church,  and 
deprived  of  the  imperial  diadem.''^  To  this  council  Frederic 
did  not  fail  to  send  ambassadors  to  defend  his  cause,  well 
knowing  that  he  was  there  to  be  publicly  accused.  The 
Pope,  who  had  set  himself  up  as  judge  at  the  head  of  the 
council,  acted  also  the  part  of  his  own  advocate;  and  after 
strenuously  insisting  on  his  right  to  the  temporalities  of 
Naples  and  Sicily,  and  to  the  patrimony  of  the  Countess 
Matilda,  he  charged  Frederic  with  having  made  a  peace" 
with  the  IMahometans — with  having  had  Mahometan  con- 
cubines— with  not  believing  in  Christ — and,  in  a  word, 
with  being  a  heretic. f  The  Emperor's  orators  harangued 
in  his  defence  widi  gn^at  spirit  and  resolution,  and  in  their 
turn  accused  the  Pope  of  having  been  guilty  of  usury  and 
rapine.  Ambassadors  from  England  were  also  sent  to  at- 
tend at  this  council,  and  represent  the  grievances  which 
their  countrymen  were  groaning  under  from  the  enormous 
exactions  of  the  court  of  Rome.  They  complained  as 
loudly  of  the  Pope  as  the  Pope  had  done  of  the  Emperor. 
"  You  draw,"  said  they,  "  by  means  of  your  Italian  emis- 
saries, above  sixty  thousand  marks  yearly  out  of  the  king- 


*  Russcl's  ]\Iodcra  Europe,  Vol.  I.  letter  32. 

f  Mons.  Voltaire  drily  asks,  "  How  could  the  Emperor  he  a  heretic 
and  ain  infidel  at  the  same  time  f"'    A  very  pertinent  question  certainly. 


140  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [ch.  v. 

(lorn  of  England  ;  you  have  lately  sent  us  a  legate,  who 
has  given  away  all  the  church  livings  to  Italians.  He 
raises  excessive  taxes  upon  all  the  religious  houses,  and  ex- 
communicates every  body  that  complains  of  his  extortions. 
Let  these  grievances,  therefore,  be  instantly  redressed,  for 
we  will  no  longer  endure  them."  The  Pope  blushed,  and 
made  no  answer,  but  proceeded  to  pronounce  sentence 
against  the  Emperor,  by  which  he  deprived  him  of  his 
crown.  While  the  pontiff  was  pronouncing  the  sentence, 
the  fathers  of  the  church  held  in  their  hands  the  lighted 
wax  candles,  which  were  immediately  extinguished  on  the 
sentence  being  pronounced.  As  one  party  signed  the  de- 
cision, the  other  went  out,  giving  vent  to  their  groans. 

The  Emperor  was  himself  at  Turin  during  these  trans- 
actions, and  according  to  report,  was  greatly  agitated  on 
hearing  of  them.  He,  however,  called  for  his  strong  box. 
which  was  brought  him,  and  taking  out  of  it  the  imperial 
crown,  he  added  "  This  the  Pope  and  his  council  have  not 
been  able  to  take  from  me,  and  before  they  strip  me  of  it 
much  blood  shall  be  spilt."  He  then  proceeded  to  write 
to  all  the  princes  of  Europe,  urging  them  to  support  him 
against  the  Pope.  "  I  am  not  the  first,"  says  he,  in  his 
letters,  "  whom  the  clergy  have  treated  so  unworthily,  and 
I  shall  not  be  the  last.  But  you  are  the  cause  of  it,  by 
obeying  these  hypocrites,  whose  ambition,  you  are  sensible, 
is  carried  beyond  all  bounds.  How  many  infamous  ac- 
tions, shocking  to  modesty,  might  you  not,  if  you  were  dis- 
posed to  it,  discover  in  the  court  of  Rome  i:  While  they 
are  abandoned  to  the  vices  of  the  age,  and  intoxicated 
with  pleasure,  the  greatness  of  their  riches  stifles  in  their 
minds  all  sense  of  religion.  It  is,  therefore,  a  work  of 
charity  to  deprive  them  of  these  pernicious  treasures  which 
are  their  ruin,  and  it  is  your  duty  to  assist  me  in  so 
doing." 

These  extracts  sufficiently  show  the  state  of  deadl} 
hatred  that  existed  between  the  Pope  and  Emperor,  and 
which  prodncod  a  flame  that  raged,  with  more  or  less  \\os 


SECT.  VII.]          Increase  of  the  Waldenses.  141 

lence,  throughout  the  empire,  until  the  death  of  the  latter 
in  the  year  1250.  "  It  was  dreadful,"  says  a  late  writer, 
"  to  see  the  misery  to  which  many  thousands  were  reduced 
in  Germany,  by  a  new  and  illegal  election  of  another  Em- 
peror, and  by  the  violences  committed  in  the  revolted  cities 
of  Italy  ;  in  all  which  the  Pope  was  the  only  one  insensible 
to  the  operations  of  divine  justice.  In  the  midst  of  this 
confusion,  (1254)  the  Almighty  summoned  him  before  his 
tribunal."*  One  beneficial  result  of  this  long-pending 
quarrel  was,  that  it  retarded  the  establishment  of  the  inqui- 
sition in  the  dift'erent  parts  of  the  German  empire,  and  con- 
sequently gave  the  Waldenses  an  opportunity  of  propaga- 
ting their  sentiments  more  extensively.  The  clergy,  no 
doubt,  were  generally  upon  the  alert  in  quest  of  heretics, 
and  wherever  they  were  discovered,  means  of  one  kind  or 
other  were  not  wanting  to  persecute  them,  and  render  their 
dispersion  necessary  to  avoid  its  fury.  But  these  things 
always  turned  out  to  the  furtherance  of  the  gospel,  "  be- 
cause many  learned  preachers  were  thereby  dispersed 
abroad  to  make  known  the  purity  of  their  religion  to  the 
world."t 

But  after  the  death  of  Frederic,  the  establishment  of  the 
Inquisition  met  with  less  obstruction.  Tlie  allairs  of  Ger- 
manj-  had  been  left  by  him  in  great  disorder  ;  Italy  was 
without  a  prince,  and  the  Milanese  under  the  control  of 
the  Pope.  "  The  latter,"  says  Liml)orch,  "  now  determin- 
ed to  extirpate  all  heresy,  which  had  greatly  increased  during 
the  preceding  war.^ 

About  the  year  1330,  the  Waldenses  were  grievously 
harassed  and  oppressed,  in  several  parts  of  Germany,  by 
an  inquisitor  of  the  name  of  Echard,  a  Jacobin  monk. 
Tiie  circumstance  is  related  by  Vignier,  in  his  Historical 
Library,  part  the  third,  where  he  also  records  an  anecdote 
of  this  Echai'd  that  is  worth  mentioning.      After  inflicting 

*  Walch's  History  of  the  Popes.  f  Perrin's  History,  b.  ii.  ch.  ii. 

I  Limborch's  Inquisition,  ch.  xv. 
Vol.  II.  U 


J 42  History  of  the  Christian  Church..  [ch.  t. 

cruelties  with  great  severity,  and  for  a  length  of  time,  upon 
the  Waldenses,  he  was  at  length  induced  to  investigate  the 
causes  and  reasons  of  their  separation  from  the  church  of 
Rome.  The  force  of  truth  ultimately  prevailed  over  all 
his  prejudices — his  own  conscience  attested  that  many  of 
the  errors  and  corruptions,  which  they  charged  on  that 
apostate  church,  really  existed ;  and,  finding  himself  una- 
ble to  disprove  the  articles  of  their  faith  by  the  word  of 
God,  he  confessed  that  truth  had  overcome  him,  gave  glory 
to  God,  and  entered  into  the  communion  of  the  Waldensian 
churches,  which  he  had  long  been  engaged  in  punishing 
and  persecuting  even  to  death.  The  news  of  his  conver- 
sion was  soon  spread  abroad,  and  reached  the  ears  of  the 
other  inquisitors,  whose  indignation  was  roused  by  his 
apostacy.  Emissaries  were  dispatched  in  pursuit  of  him, 
and  he  was  at  length  apprehended  and  conveyed  to  Heidel- 
berg, where  he  was  committed  to  the  flames.  His  dying 
testimony  was  a  noble  attestation  to  the  principles  and  con- 
duct of  the  Waldenses,  for  he  went  to  the  stake  charging  it 
upon  the  church  of  Rome  as  a  monstrous  and  iniquitous 
proceeding,  to  put  to  death  so  many  innocent  persons,  for 
no  other  crime  but  their  steadfast  adherence  to  the  cause  of 
Christ,  in  opposition  to  the  delusions  of  Antichrist.* 

The  Waldenses,  however,  continued  to  increase  through- 
out Germany,  during  the  thirteenth  and  fourteenth  centu- 
ries. Four  hundred  and  forty-three  were  apprehended  by 
the  inquisitors  in  Saxony  and  Pomerania,  in  the  year  1391, 
who  confessed  that  their  teachers  came  from  Bohemia,  and 
that  they  and  their  ancestors  before  them  had  been  instruct- 
ed in  the  principles  they  then  held.  In  1457,  a  great  num- 
ber of  the  Waldenses  were  discovered  by  the  inquisitors  in 
the  diocess  of  Eistein  in  Germany,  who  were  put  to  death, 
and  who  confessed  that  they  had  among  them  twelve  barbes, 
or  pastors,  who  laboured  in  the  work  of  the  ministry.     In 

*  Vignier's  Bibliolheca  Ilistorialis,  part  iii.  Anno  1330,  in  Perrin's 
History,  b.  ii.  ch.  ii. 


SECT.  VII.]  Persecution  of  the  Waldenses  in  Paris,  ^c.     143 

sljort,  Trithemius  relates  it  as  an  acknowledged  fact,  that 
in  those  days  the  Waldenses  were  so  niunerous,  that  in  tra- 
velling from  Cologne  to  Milan,  the  whole  extent  of  Ger- 
many, they  could  lodge  every  night  with  persons  of  their 
own  proiession,  and  that  it  was  a  custom  among  them  to 
affix  certain  private  marks  to  their  signs  and  gates,  where- 
by they  made  themselves  known  to  one  another.* 

In  the  year  1210,  twenty-four  persons  of  the  sect  of  the 
Waldenses  were  seized  in  the  city  of  Paris,  some  of  whom 
were  imprisoned,  and  others  committed  to  the  flames.  In 
the  year  1334,  the  monks  of  the  Inquisition,  who  were  de- 
puted to  search  after  the  Waldenses,  apprehended  one  hun- 
dred and  fourteen  of  them  at  Paris,  who  were  burnt  alive, 
sustaining  their  torture  with  admirable  fortitude.  It  is  also 
related  by  the  author  of  a  work  entitled  "The  Sea  of  His- 
tories," tliat  in  the  year  1378,  the  persecution  against  the 
Waldenses  continuing,  a  vast  number  of  them  were  burnt 
in  the  place  de  Grave,  in  Paris. f  These  sanguinary  pro- 
ceedings, however,  it  would  seem,  were  far  from  eradicating 
the  heresy.  For,  two  years  after  this,  viz.  in  1380,  we 
find  Francis  Borelli,  an  inquisitorial  monk,  armed  with  a 
bull  of  Pope  Clement  VII.,  undertaking  the  persecution  of 
the  Waldenses  in  the  same  quarter.  In  the  space  of  thir- 
teen years,  he  delivered  into  the  hands  of  the  civil  magis- 
trates of  Grenoble  a  hundred  and  fifty  persons  to  be  burned 
as  heretics.  x\nd  in  the  valley  of  Fraissiniere,  he  appre- 
hended eighty  more,  who  were  also  committed  to  the 
flames.  J 

About  the  year  1370,  a  colony  of  the  Waldensian  youths 
of  Dauphine  sought  a  new  settlement  in  Calabria, §  proba- 

*  Perrin's  Histoiy,  b.  ii.  ch.  xi. 

f  Perrin,  book  ii.  ch.  xv. 

I  Milner's  Church  History,  Vol.  HI.  p.  496. 

^  There  is  a  passag-e  in  the  writings  of  that  eminent  Catholic  Histo- 
rian, Thuanus,  relating'  to  the  svibjoct  wc  are  now  upon,  which  de- 
serves the  reader's  attention,  as  throwing  considerable  light  upon  the 
history  of  this  darli  period,  and  certainly  no  writer  was  more  compe- 
tent to  give  Ub  mfonuatiofl.      '■•  Against  the  Waldenses,"  says   he, 


144  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [ch.  v. 

bly  hoping  there  to  enjoy  with  less  molestation  their 
relig^ious  privileges.  Finding  the  soil  fertile,  and  the  re- 
gion thinly  peopled,  they  applied  to  the  proprietors  of  the 
lands,  and  stipulated  for  a  settlement  among  them.  The 
lords  of  the  country  cheerfully  granted  their  request,  gave 
them  the  kindest  reception,  agreed  with  them  on  equitable 
terms,  and  let  out  to  them  parcels  of  land  for  cultivation. 
By  their  superior  industry,  the  new  colonists  speedily  fer- 
tilized and  enriched  their  respective  districts ;  and  by  dieir 
probity,  peaceable  manners,  and  punctuality  in  the  pay- 
ment of  their  rents,  they  ingratiated  themselves  with  their 
landlords  and  neighbours  in  general.  The  priests  alone 
were  dissatisfied.  They  found  they  did  not  act  like  others 
in  religious  matters ;  they  contributed  nothing  to  the  sup- 
port of  the  cimrch  by  masses  for  the  dead,  or  other  popish 
innovations,  and  they  were  offended.  In  particular,  they 
were  chagrined  at  finding  that  certain  foreign  schoolmas- 
ters, who  educated  the  children  of  these  strangers,  were 
highly  respected  and  preferred  to  themselves — and  that 
they  received  nothing  from  them  except  tythes,  which  were 
paid  according  to  contract  with  their  landlords.  Conclu- 
ding, therefore,  that  they  must  be  heretics,  they  signified 
their  intention  to  complain  of  them  to  the  Pope.     The  gen- 

"  when  exquisite  punishments  availed  little,  and  the  evil  was  exaspe- 
rated by  the  remedy  ivhich  had  been  unseasonably  applied,  and  their 
number  mcreased  daily,  complete  armies  were  at  length  raised,  and  a 
war  of  no  less  weig-hl  than  what  our  people  had  before  waged  against 
the  Saracens,  was  determined  against  them.  The  result  was  that  they 
were  rather  slain,  put  to  flight,  spoiled  every  where  of  their  goods  and 
possessions,  and  dispersed  abroad,  than  convinced  of  their  error  and 
brought  to  repentance.  So  that  they  who  at  first  had  defended  them- 
selves by  arms,  fled  into  Provence,  and  the  neighbouring  Alps  of  the 
French  territory,  and  found  a  shelter  for  their  life  and  doctrine  in  those 
places.  Part  of  them  wilhdrew  into  Calabria,  and  continued  there  a 
•long  while,  even  to  the  poutificate  of  Pius  IV.  Many  passed  into 
Germany,  and  fixed  their  abode  among  the  Bohemians,  and  in  Poland 
and  Livonia.  Others,  turning;  to  the  west,  ohfained  refuge  in  Britain."" 
Thnani  Pra?fatio  ad  Henricum  IV.  p.  7.  Edit.  Buckley.  The  reader 
will  find  nearly  the  whole  of  the  interesting  article  from  whence  this 
extract  is  taken  in  the  Appe>dix  to  this  Volume. 


SKCT.  vii.]       The  JValdeiises  in  Calabria,  fyc.  145 

try,  however,  resisted  that.  "They  are  just  and  honest," 
said  they,  "  and  have  enriched  all  the  country.  Even  ye 
priests  have  received  important  advantages  from  their  in- 
dnstr3\  The  tythes  alone,  which  ye  now  receive,  are  so 
much  greater  than  those  which  were  formerly  produced 
from  these  countries,  that  you  are  more  than  compensated 
for  any  losses  you  may  sustain  on  other  accounts.  Perhaps 
the  country  from  whence  they  Came  is  not  so  devoted  to 
the  ceremonies  of  the  Roman  church;  but  as  these  people 
fear  God,  are  generous  to  the  poor,  just  and  beneficent  to 
all  men,  it  is  illiberal  on  your  parts  to  force  their  con- 
sciences. Are  they  not  a  temperate,  sober,  discreet  peo- 
ple, and  peculiarly  decent  in  their  speech  ?  Does  any  per- 
son ever  hear  them  utter  a  blasphemous  expression  ?" 

This  prudent  counsel  was  not  without  its  use.  The 
priests,  indeed,  who  felt,  or  imagined,  their  interests  were 
undermined  by  these  new  settlers,  miu'mured,  and  gave 
vent  to  their  mortification  in  private.  But  the  lords  of  the 
country  had  sufficient  discernment  to  estimate  the  value  of 
their  new  tenants ;  and  they  protected  them  from  the  in- 
dignation of  the  clergy.  The  consequence  was,  that  the 
Calabrian  Waldenses  enjoyed  security,  and  the  benefits  of 
toleration,  until  the  year  15G0,  when  they  formed  a  union 
with  the  church  of  Geneva,  of  which  Calvin  was  the  pas- 
tor. Their  history  previous  to  that  union  is  dreadful,  on 
account  of  the  scenes  of  papal  persecution  that  ensued; 
but  it  belongs  to  a  subsequent  period,  and  we  must  not 
here  enter  upon  it. 

During  the  period  that  we  are  now  treating  of,  the  Ne- 
therlands (Flanders)  exhibited  many  shocking  scenes  of 
slaughter  of  the  Waldenses.  It  seems  probable  that  when 
persecuted  in  France  they  retreated  into  that  country, 
where  also  the  intolerant  zeal  of  inquisitors  followed,  and 
made  dreadful  havoc  of  them.  Here  they  obtained  a  new 
appellation,  viz.  Turilupins,  that  is,  the  wolves  of  Turin. 
The  explanation  which  their  own  friends  give  us  of  this 
term  is,  that  being  banished  from  the  society  of  men,  and 


146  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [ch.  v. 

driven  to  dwell  with  the  beasts  of  the  forest,  they,  in  refer- 
ence to  the  place  whence  they  originated,  designated  them 
Turlupins,  or  Turilupins.  Our  historian,  iMatthew  Paris, 
informs  us,  in  his  Life  of  Henry  III.,  that  one  Robert 
Bougre,  who  had  lived  among  the  Waldenses,  and  pro- 
fessed their  faith,  apostatized  from  them,  became  a  Domi- 
nican, and  was  appointed  by  the  Pope  inquisitor-general. 
This  man,  knowing  their  usual  places  of  concealment,  ap- 
prehended more  than  fifty  of  them,  in  the  year  1236,  and 
caused  them  all  to  be  burned  or  buried  alive.  But  of  the 
extremes  to  which  this  miscreant  carried  his  cruelty,  a 
tolerable  notion  may  be  formed  from  the  singular  occur- 
rence, that  even  the  court  of  Rome  complained  of  his 
abusing  the  power  with  which  he  had  been  intrusted. 
He  was  accused  of  perverting  the  authority  of  his  office, 
of  punishing  the  innocent  with  the  guilty,  and  of  com- 
mitting various  atrocities,  in  consequence  of  which  he  was 
deprived  of  his  office  of  inquisitor,  and  condemned  to  per- 
petual imprisonment.* 

We  are  told  by  Le  Sieur  de  la  Popeliniere,  who  wrote  a 
History  of  France,  that  the  religion  of  the  Waldenses 
spread  itself  throughout  all  the  countries  of  Europe,  even 
into  Poland  and  Lithuania;  and  that  ever  since  the  year 
1100,  they  had  been  propagating  their  doctrine,  which 
differed  but  little  from  that  of  the  modern  Protestants. 
He  adds  that,  notwithstanding  the  vigorous  efforts  that 
have  been  resorted  to,  by  different  princes  and  powers,  to 
suppress  their  doctrine,  they  had,  even  to  his  times,  boldly 
and  courageously  maintained  it.  Vignier,  before  quoted, 
mentions,  that  when  the  Waldenses  were  driven  from 
Picardy,  through  the  violence  of  persecution,  several  of 
them  retired  into  Poland.  Hence  we  find,  that  in  the  year 
*1330,  the  inquisition  followed  them  there,  and  that  num- 
bers of  them  were  put  to  death.  Matthias  Illyrius,  in  his 
"Catalogue  of  the  Witnesses  of  the  Truth,"  says,  he  had 

*  Matthew  Paris, — Life  of  Henry  III,     Perrin's  Hist.  b.  ii.  ch.  xiii. 


SECT.  VII.]    Waldenses  in  Poland — Italy — Sicily.  147 

lying  before  liiin  the  forms  of  the  inquisition  made  use  of 
on  that  occasion.* 

From  these  same  writers,  to  whom  may  also  be  added 
the  inquisitor,  Reinerius  Saccho,  we  learn,  that  the  perse- 
cutions which  took  place  in  the  south  of  France,  during 
the  former  pan  of  the  thirteenth  century,  drove  the  Wal- 
denses also  into  various  other  countries.  "In  1229,  they 
had  spread  themselves  in  great  numbers  throughout  all 
Italy.  They  had  ten  schools  in  Valcamonica  alone,  which 
were  supported  by  pecuniary  comributions  in  all  tlicir 
societies,  and  which  contributions  were  transmitted  into 
Lombardy."  Reinerius  adds,  that  about  the  year  1250, 
the  Waldenses  had  churches  in  Albania,  Lombardy,  Milan, 
in  Romagna,  Vincenza,  Florence,  and  Val  Spoletine;  and, 
in  the  year  1280,  there  were  a  considerable  number  of 
Waldenses  in  Sicily,  In  all  these  places  the  sanguinary 
edicts  of  the  Emperor  Frederic  II.  were  continually  sus- 
pended, like  the  sword  of  Damocles,  over  their  heads.  I'o 
these,  also,  were  now  added  the  rage  of  inquisitors  and  of 
papal  constitutions,  through  which  they  were  contimially 
exposed  to  suffering  and  misery.  In  Sicily  in  particular, 
the  imperial  fury  raged  against  them. — they  were  ordered 
to  be  treated  with  the  greatest  severity,  that  they  might 
be  banished,  not  only  from  the  country,  but  from  the  earth. 
And  throughout  Italy,  both  Gregory  IX.  and  Honorius 
IV.  harassed  and  oppressed  them  with  the  most  unrelent- 
ing barbarity,  by  means  of  the  inquisition — the  living  were, 
without  mercy,  committed  to  the  hands  of  the  executioner, 
their  houses  razed  to  the  ground,  their  goods  confiscated, 
and  even  the  slumbering  remains  of  the  dead  were  dragged 
from  tlieir  graves,  and  their  bones  committed  to  the  flames. f 

We  are  further  informed  by  Reinerius  Saccho,  that  in  his 
time,  the  Waldenses  had  tlieir  churches  ai  Constantinople 
and  Philadelphia,  in  Sclavonia,  Bulgaria,  and  Diagonitia. 
Vignier  reports,  that   after  the    persecution    of   Picardy, 

*  Perrin's  History,  b.  ii.  cb.  xiv.  and  Limborrh,  oh.  xvi. 
+  Perrin's  History,  b.  ii.  ch.  xvi. 


148  History  of  the  Christian  Church.         [ch.  v. 

they  dispersed  themselves  into  Livonia  and  Sarmatia.  And, 
it  is  added  by  Matthew  Paris,  that  they  had  spread  them- 
selves as  far  as  Croatia  and  Dalmatia,  where  their  profession 
prevailed  to  that  degree,  that  they  had  won  over  several 
(Catholic)  bishops  to  their  party. 

It  is  pleasing  to  find,  tliat  while  the  Waldenses  were 
thus  carrying  the  light  of  the  gospel  of  Christ  throughout 
the  whole  continent  of  Europe,  a  gleam  of  its  celestial 
brightness  burst  upon  our  own  country,  and,  in  some  small 
degree,  served  to  irradiate  the  gloom  in  which  it  was  en- 
veloped. In  a  former  section,  we  have  noticed  the  emi- 
gration of  thirty  of  the  Waldenses  into  England,  who  were 
cruelly  persecuted  and  destroyed  at  Oxford  in  the  year 
1166.  John  Bale,  in  his  Chronicle  of  London,  mentions 
a  person  who  was  burnt  at  London,  in  1210,  whose  only 
crime  was,  that  he  was  tainted  with  the  faith  of  the  Wal- 
denses. But  the  wars  that  were  carried  on  ngainst  the 
Albigenses  in  the  south  of  France,  about  this  time,  con- 
tributed very  much  to  the  propagation  of  the  principles 
of  the  Waldenses  in  this  country,  as,  indeed,  appears  from 
the  testimony  of  Thuanus,  lately  adduced.  For,  indepen- 
dently of  the  contiguity  of  the  two  countries,  there  were 
circumstances  of  a  political  nature  that  tended  very  much 
to  keep  up  the  intercourse  between  them.  Guienne  was  at 
that  time  in  the  possession  of  the  English — to  which  may 
be  added,  that  Raymond,  Earl  of  Toulouse,  the  great 
patron  and  protector  of  the  Albigenses,  was  brother-in-law 
to  the  king  of  England  ;  in  consequence  of  which  alliance, 
our  countrymen  were  frequently  employed  in  assisting  the 
subjects  of  Raymond  in  their  wars.  That  the  doctrines  of 
the  Waldenses  had  begun  to  spread  themselves  here  about 
the  close  of  the  thirteenth  centurj',  is  sufficiently  obvious 
.from  a  fact  noticed  by  Archbishop  Usher,  viz.  that  in  the 
reign  of  Henry  III.  "  the  orders  of  the  Friars  Minorites 
came  into  England  to  suppress  the  Waldensian  heresy."* 

*  See  Ivimey's  History  of  the  English  Baptists,  Vol.  I.  p.  59. 


SECT.  VII.]  Memoirs  of  Greathead,  Bishop  of  Lincoln.   149 

The  most  remarkable  character  that  appears  in  the  an- 
nals of  English  ecclesiastical  history  durhig  this  pei-iod, 
was  Robert  Greathead,*  bishop  of  Lincoln.  He  was  born 
about  the  year  1175,  at  Stradbrook,  in  the  county  of  Suf- 
folk, and  appears  to  have  been  a  person  of  obscure  parent- 
age. His  studies,  however,  were  prosecuted  at  the  Univer- 
sity of  Oxford,  where  he  acquired  an  intimate  acquaintance 
with  the  Greek  and  Hebrew  languages  ;  after  which  he 
went  to  Paris,  at  that  time  the  first  seminary  in  Europe, 
where  he  became  a  perfect  master  of  the  French  language. 
Returning  to  his  native  country,  he  was,  in  the  year  1235, 
elected,  by  the  dean  and  chapter,  bishop  of  Lincoln,  and 
king  Henry  IIL  ratified  the  choice.  He  seems  to  have 
possessed,  even  from  his  youth,  much  seriousness  of 
mind  ;  and  though,  at  that  period  of  life,  immersed  in  the 
darkness  and  superstitions  of  the  age,  he  was  no  sooner 
inducted  to  his  office  than  he  began  to  reform  abuses.  He 
convened  the  clergy  of  his  diocess  at  stated  times,  to  whom 
he  preached,  and  urged  them  to  the  duties  which  devolved 
upon  them  from  their  ofiice.  But  as  the  latter  had  no  ear 
to  give  to  these  things,  the  bishop  soon  began  to  be  invol- 
ved in  litigations  with  the  monks  and  other  popish  agents. 
In  the  year  1247,  two  persons  of  the  Franciscan  order 
were  sent  into  England  to  extort  money  for  the  Pope. 
They  applied  to  the  prelates  and  abbots,  but,  as  it  would 
seem,  not  with  all  the  success  that  was  wished.  Greathead 
was  amazed  at  the  pomp  and  insolence  of  these  friars,  who 
demanded  six  thousand  marks  as  the  contribution  of  the 
diocess  of  Lincoln,  at  the  same  time  giving  him  to  under- 
stand that  they  were  vested  with  the  Pope's  bull,  "  Friars," 
said  he,    "  with  all  reverence  to  his  holiness  be  it  spoken, 


*  So  his  name  is  written  by  Bishop  Newton,  PropA.  Vol.  II.  Bishop 
Hurd  calls  him  Grostete,  Introd.  to  Proph.  Vol.  II.  Milner  aod  others 
call  him  Grosseteste.  The  reason  of  this  variation  probably  is,  that 
he  was  either  of  French  extraction,  or  assumed  this  latter  name  after 
his  residence  in  France ;  for  the  name  of  Greathead  in  English,  and 
Grosseteste  in  French  are  synonymous. 
Vol..  II.  X 


150  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [ch.  v. 

the  demand  is  as  dishonourable  as  it  is  impracticable.  The 
whole  body  of  tlie  clergy  and  people  are  concerned  in  it 
equally  with  myself.  To  give  a  definite  answer,  in  an  in- 
stant, to  such  a  demand,  before  the  sense  of  the  kingdom 
is  taken  upon  it,  would  on  my  part  be  rash  and  absurd." 

Circumstances  of  this  kind,  in  process  of  time,  began  to 
open  the  eyes  of  the  bishop  to  the  domineering  influence  of 
the  court  of  Rome.  Another  thing^hich  struck  his  mind 
forcibly  was,  tliat  in  going  through  his  diocess,  he  found 
the  Pope  had,  by  means  of  his  letters,  introduced  iato  all 
the  churches,  where  opulent  benefices  were  to  be  enjoyed, 
a  set  of  lazy  Italians,  who  neither  undertood  the  language 
of  the  country,  nor  possessed  either  abihty  or  inclination 
to  instruct  the  people.  These  enormities  became  the  ob- 
jects of  his  detestation.  When  the  papal  bulls,  intended 
to  introduce  some  new  evil,  were  put  into  his  hands,  he 
would  indignantly  cast  them  from  him,  and  absolutely  re- 
fuse compliance  with  them,  saying,  that  he  should  prove 
himself  the  friend  of  Satan,  were  he  to  commit  the  care  of 
souls  to  foreigners.  Pope  Innocent,  however,  persevering 
in  the  same  line  of  conduct,  magisterially  ordered  him  to 
admit  an  Italian,  totally  ignorant  of  the  English  language, 
to  a  very  rich  benefice  in  the  diocess  of  Lincohi ;  and  the 
bishop  refusing  to  comply,  the  former  suspended  him  from 
his  functions.  But  Greathead  treated  the  papal  mandate 
with  contempt,  and  continued  to  discharge  his  episcopal 
duties. 

In  the  year  1253,  the  Pope  was  desirous  of  preferring 
his  own  nephew,  an  Italian  youth,  to  a  rich  benefice  in  the 
cathedral  of  Lincoln  ;  and,  for  this  purpose,  he,  by  letter, 
enjoined  the  bishop  to  give  him  the  first  canonry  that 
should  be  vacant.  This  was  to  be  done  by  provision,  for 
•that  was  the  term  employed  by  the  pontiff  when  he  under- 
took to  provide  beforehand  a  successor  to  a  benefice  ;  and 
on  this  occasion  he  seems  to  have  been  determined  to  in- 
timidate the  bishop  hito  compliance.  He  declared  that  any 
other  disposal  of  the  canonry  should  be  null  and  void,  and 


SECT.  VII.]  Greathead  opposes  the  Pope.  151 

that  he  would  excommunicate  every  one  tliat  should  dare 
to  disobey  his  injunction.  But  Greathead,  resolving  not  to 
comply,  wrote  a  letter  on  this  occasion  which  reflects  the 
highest  honour  on  his  memory.  "  Next  to  the  sin  of  An- 
tichrist," says  he,  "  which  shall  be  in  the  latter  times,  no- 
thing can  be  more  contrary  to  the  doctrine  of  Christ,  than 
to  destroy  men's  souls,  by  defrauding  them  of  the  benefit 
of  the  pastoral  office.  Those '  who  minister  to  their  own 
carnal  lusts,  by  means  of  the  milk  and  wool  of  the  sheep 
of  Christ,  and  do  not  strive  to  promote  the  salvation  of  the 
flock,  in  the  pastoral  office,  are  guilty  of  destroying  the 
souls  of  men.  Two  atrocious  evils  are  in  this  way  com- 
mitted— they  sin  against  God  himself,  who  is  essentially 
good,  and  also  against  the  image  of  God  in  man,  which, 
by  the  reception  of  his  grace,  becomes  partaker  of  the 
divine  nature.  For  the  holy  apostolic  see  to  be  accessary 
to  such  wickedness,  would  be  a  monstrous  abuse  of  power, 
and  argue  an  entire  separation  from  the  glorious  kingdom 
of  Christ,  and  a  participation  with  the  two  powers  of  dark- 
ness, (meaning  probably  the  devil  and  Antichrist.)  No  man 
can  obey  such  mandates  with  a  good  conscience,  even 
though  they  were  seconded  by  the  high  order  of  angels 
themselves ; — on  the  contrary,  every  faithful  Cinistian 
ought  to  oppose  them  with  all  his  might." 

When  this  epistle  reached  the  hands  of  the  Pope,  it 
roused  his  indignation  to  the  highest  pilch.  "  Who,"  said 
he,  "  is  this  old  dotard,  that  dares  to  judge  my  actions  .'* 
By  Peter  and  Paul,  if  I  were  not  restrained  by  my  gene- 
rosity, I  would  make  him  an  example  and  a  spectacle  to  all 
mankind.  Is  not  the  King  of  England  my  vassal  and  my 
slave ;  and  if  I  gave  the  word,  would  he  not  throw  him 
into  pris(m  and  load  him  with  disgrace .''"  The  cardinals, 
however,  who  saw  the  danger  into  which  the  pontiff  was 
about  to  plunge  himself  by  his  rashness,  strove  to  moderate 
his  resentment.  One  Giles,  a  Spanish  cardinal,  in  particu- 
lar, thus  addressed  him.  "  It  is  not  expedient  for  you  to 
proceed  against  the  bishop  in  that  violent  manner ;  for, 


152  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  fcH.  v. 

what  he  says  is  certainly  true,  nor  can  we  with  decency 
condemn  him.  He  is  a  holy  man — much  more  so  than  we 
ourselves  are — a  man  of  admirable  genius,  and  of  the  most 
exemplary  morals — no  prelate  in  Christendom  is  thought 
to  excel  him.  It  is  probable,  that  by  this  time  the  truths 
expressed  in  his  letter  are  known  to  many,  and  they  will 
excite  many  against  us.  Tlie  clergy,  both  in  France  and 
England,  know  the  character  of  the  man,  nor  is  it  possible 
to  fix  any  stigma  upon  him.  He  is  understood  to  be  a 
great  philosopher,  an  accomplished  scholar  in  Latin  and 
Greek  literature,  zealous  in  the  administration  of  justice,  a 
theological  lecturer  in  the  schools,  a  popular  preacher,  a 
friend  to  chastity,  and  the  enemy  of  simony."  In  these 
sentiments  Giles  was  seconded  by  others,  and  the  whole 
conclave  of  cardinals  advised  the  Pope  to  wink  at  these 
transactions,  lest  a  tumult  should  arise  in  the  church ;  for, 
said  they,  "  it  is  an  evident  truth  that  a  revolt  from  the 
church  of  Rome,  will  one  day  take  place  in  Christendom.'' 
But  the  rage  of  Innocent  IV.  was  not  to  be  allayed ;  he  ex- 
communicated the  bishop  of  Lincoln,  and  appointed  Albert, 
one  of  his  nuncios,  to  succeed  him.  Greathead,  supported 
by  a  conviction  of  the  rectitude  of  his  conduct,  referred 
his  appeal  to  the  tribunal  of  Christ,  and  paid  no  regard  to 
the  decree ;  and  what  the  cardinals  foresaw,  was  realized 
in  the  event — the  Pope's  mandate  was  universally  neglect- 
ed, and  the  bishop  remained  in  quiet  possession  of  his 
dignity. 

But  this  venerable  prelate  was  now  fast  advancing  to- 
wards the  end  of  his  labours,  and  in  the  year  1253,  he 
died  (Oct.  9th)  at  his  palace  at  Buckden.  When  the  Pope 
heard  of  his  death,  he  exultingly  exclaimed,  "  I  rejoice,  and 
let  every  true  son  of  the  church  of  Rome  rejoice  with  me, 
4hat  my  great  enemy  is  removed."  He  ordered  a  letter  to 
be  written  to  the  King  of  England,  requiring  him  to  cause 
the  bishop's  body  to  be  taken  up,  cast  out  of  the  church, 
and  burned.  The  cardinals,  however,  resisted  his  project ; 
and  the  letter,  though  written,  was  never  sent,  owing,  pro- 


SECT.  Yii.]      Greathead^s  Doctrinal  Sentiments.  153 

bably,  to  the  declining  state  of  the  pontifl*'s  health,  for  he 
died  in  tlie  following  year. 

Matthew  Paris,  the  monk  of  Saint  Albans,  though  su- 
perstitiously  attached  to  the  See  of  Rome,  and  not  a  Ultle 
prejudiced  against  the  Bishop  of  Lincoln,  on  account  of 
the  severity  with  which  he  treated  the  monastic  orders,  has 
furnished  a  character  of  Greathead  so  honourable,  that  it 
deserves  to  be  recorded. 

"  The  holy  bishop  Robert,"  says  he,  "  departed  this 
world,  which  he  never  loved,  and  which  was  always  to  him 
as  a  place  of  banishment.  He  was  the  open  reprover  of 
my  lord  the  Pope,  and  of  the  king,  as  well  as  of  the  pre- 
lates. He  was  the  corrector  of  monks,  the  director  of 
priests,  the  instructer  of  the  clergy,  the  patron  of  scholars, 
a  preacher  to  the  laity,  the  punisher  of  incontinence,  the 
diligent  investigator  of  various  writings,  and  the  scourge  of 
lazy  and  selfish  Romans,  whom  he  heartily  despised.  In 
regard  to  temporal  concerns,  he  was  liberal,  copious,  po- 
lite, cheerful,  and  affable — in  spiritual  things  he  was  devout, 
humble,  and  contrite — in  the  execution  of  his  episcopal  of- 
fice he  was  diligent,  venerable,  and  indefatigable."* 

Greathead's  doctrinal  sentiments,  considering  the  dark- 
ness of  the  age  in  which  his  lot  was  cast,  appear  to  have 
been  remarkable  for  their  purity  and  simplicity.  The 
following  is  his  view  of  the  important  article  of  divine 

GRACE. 

"  Grace,"  says  he,  "  is  that  good  pleasure  of  God,  where- 
by' he  is  pleased  to  bestow  upon  us  what  we  have  not  de- 
served, and  the  gift  is  for  our  advantage  and  not  his. 
Hence  it  is  very  clear,  that  all  the  good  we  possess,  whether 
it  be  natural,  or  freely  conferred  afterwards,  proceeds  from 
the  grace  of  God ;  because  there  is  no  good  thing,  the  ex- 
istence of  which  he  does  not  will ;  and  for  God  to  will  any 
thing  is  to  do  it ;  therefore  there  can  be  no  good  of  which 
he  is  not  the  author.     He  turns  the  human  will  from  evil, 

*  Matthew  Paris,  p.  876.      See  also  Pegge's  Life  of  Greathead. 


154  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [cH.  v^. 

and  converts  it  to  good,  causing  it  to  persevere  in  the 
same." 

Several  of  his  manuscript  sermons,  it  seems,  are  still  ex- 
tant in  the  cathedral  church  of  York.      One  of  them  is 
founded  upon  Luke  vi.  20.  Blessed  are  ye  poor^  for  yours 
is  the  kingdom  of  heaven.     In  discussing  the  subject,  he 
undertakes  to  describe  the  poverty  reconimended  in  the 
text ;  which,  by  comparing  the  words  with  the  parallel  place 
in  Matt.  v.  3.  he  finds  to  be  poverty  of  spirit.     This  poverty, 
he  tells  us,  is  wrought  in  the  heart  of  the  elect,  by  the 
Holy  Spirit — its  foundation  is  laid  in  real  humility  ;  which 
disposes  a  man  to  feel  that  he  has  nothing  but  what  he  has 
received  from  above.      But  that  is  not  all — for,  as  he  ob- 
serves, humility  in  this  view  belonged  to  Adam  before  he 
fell — the  humdity  of  a  sinner  hath  a  still  deeper  root.     The 
humble  man  not  only  sees  that  he  has  nothing  in  himself, 
but  he  is  stripped  of  all  desire  to  possess  in  himself  the 
springs    of  self-exaltation.     Self-condemned   and  corrupt 
before  God,  he  despairs  of  help  from  his  own  powers,  and 
finds  all  he  wants  in  Him,  who  is  the  true  life,  wisdom,  and 
health,  and  indeed  his  all  in  all,  even  the  incarnate  Son  of 
God,  who  condescended  to  come  into  our  vale  of  sin  and 
misery,  that  he  might  raise  us  from  their  depths.     By  lean- 
ing on  him  alone,  every  true  Christian  rises  into  true  life, 
and  peace,  and  joy.     He  lives  in  his  life — sees  light  in  his 
light — is  invigorated  with  his  warmth — grows  in  his  strength 
— and  leaning  upon  the  Beloved,  his  soul  ascends  upwards. 
The  lower  he  sinks  in  humility,  the  higher  he  rises  towards 
God.     He  is  sensible  that  he  not  only  is  nothing  in  him- 
self, but  that  he  also  has  lost  what  he  had  gratuitously  re- 
ceived, has  precipitated  himself  into  misery,  and  so  sub- 
jected himself  to  the  slavery  of  the  devil ;  and  lastly,  that 
he  has  no   internal  resources  for  recovery.     Thus  he   is 
induced  to  place  his  whole  dependance  on  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  to  abhor  himself,  and  always  to  prefer  others  as 
better  than  himself.      This  leads  him  "to  take  the  lowest 
seat,"  as  his  own  proper  place. 


SECT.  VII.]     GreatheatP s  Doctrinal  Sentiments.  1 55 

He  then  calls  upon  the  man  who  professes  to  be  the  sub- 
ject of  humility,  earnestly  to  examine  himself,  how  far  he 
demonstrates  in  his  temper  and  conduct,  this  fruit  of  the 
Spirit ;  and  even  should  he  find  some  evidences  of  it  in  his 
soul,  to  beware  that  he  be  not  inflated  with  the  discovery, 
because  he  ought  to  kijow  that  it  is  only  of  God  that  he  is 
whst  he  is — and  that  he  ought  no  more  to  boast  of  himself, 
than  the  refulgent  colours  of  the  JDrisin  should  glory  in  that 
splendour  which  they  derive  wholly  from  the  solar  rays. 
He  observes,  that  the  temptations  to  self-complacency  are 
the  effect  of  satanic  injections — and  that  it  behooves  him 
who  would  not  be  deceiving  himself,  to  see  whether  he  has 
the  genuine  marks  of  humility  in  his  practice — whether, 
for  instance,  he  can  bear  to  be  rebuked  by  an  infeiio/ — 
whether  he  is  not  rendered  insolent  by  honours — whether 
he  is  not  inflated  by  praise — whether  among  equals  he  is 
the  first  to  labour,  and  the  last  to  exalt  himself — whether 
he  can  recompense  blessings  for  curses,  and  good  for  evil. 
B}'  such  methods  of  self-examination  he  is  to  check  the 
ebullitions  of  vainglory,  with  which  the  tempter  is  apt  to 
inspire  those  who  seem  to  have  made  some  proficiency^  in 
the  divine  life.  If  that  proficiency  be  real,  let  tliem  take 
care  never  to  conceive  of  it  as  something  separate  from 
Christ.  He  alone,  dwelling  in  them  by  his  Spirit,  pro- 
duces all  that  is  good,  and  to  Him  alone  the  praise  be- 
longs. 


15G  History  of  the  Christian  Church.         [ch.  v. 


SECTIOir  VIZI. 

A  glance  at  the  state  of  Religion  in  England  and  Bohemia, 
during  the  thirteenth  and  fourteenth  centuries,  with  sketches 
of  the  history  of  Wickliff,  the  Lollards,  John  Huss,  and 
Jerome  of  Prague;  including  a  concise  account  of  the 
"Unitas  Fratrimi,"  or  United  Bohemian  Brethren,  till 
the  times  of  Luther. 

An  attentive  reader  of  the  preceding  pages  will  have  ob- 
served, that  when  the  governments  of  France  and  Spain 
lent  their  aid  to  second  the  views  of  the  court  of  Rome,  in 
expelling  the  Waldenses  and  Albigenses  from  their  respec- 
tive countries ;  the  persecuted  followers  of  Jesus  Christ 
found  an  asylum  in  Bohemia,  where  their  principles  took 
deep  root,  and  their  numbers  multiplied  exceedingly.*  As 
it  is  intended  in  this  section  to  notice  a  little  more  particu- 
larly the  progress  of  these  principles,  both  in  that  kingdom 
and  in  our  own  country,  at  this  interesting  period,  I  must 
trespass  upon  the  reader's  patience  by  laying  before  him  a 
short  extract  from  the  impartial  Thuanus,  which,  while  it 
serves  to  refresh  his  memory  by  a  recapitulation  of  what  has 
already  been  related,  will  also  furnish  an  introduction  to 
what  is  to  follow. 

"Peter  Waldo,  a  rich  citizen  of  Lyons,  about  the 
year  of  Christ  1170,  gave  name  to  the  Vaudois  or  Wal- 
denses. This  man  (as  has  been  recorded  by  Guy  de  Per- 
pignan,  bishop  of  Elna,  who  exercised  the  office  of  inqui- 
sitor against  the  Waldenses)  leaving  his  house  and  estate, 
had  entirely  devoted  himself  to  the  profession  of  the  Gospel, 
and  had  procured  the  writings  of  the  Prophets  and  Apos- 
tles to  be  translated  into  the  language  of  the  country, 
together  with  several  testimonies  from  the  primitive  fathers : 
all  which  having  well  fixed  in  his  mind,  and  trusting  to  his 

*  See  page  11,  28,  and  29  of  this  Vol.  and  the  Note  from  Thuanus, 
page  143. 


SECT.  VIII.]     Extract  from  Mons.  De  Thou.  157 

natural  parts,  he  took  up  the  oflice  of  preachmg,  and  in- 
terpreted the  Gospel  to  the  common  people  in  the  streets. 
And  when,  in  a  short  time,  he  had  got  about  him  a  good 
number  of  followers, '  he  sent  them  out  into  all  parts,  as 
disciples,  to  propagate  the  Gospel.  They,  as  being  gene- 
rally unlearned,  having  easily  lallen  into  various  errors, 
were  cited  by  the  Archbishop  of  Lyons;  and  though  they 
were,  as  he  reports,  convicted,  yet  they  fortified  themselves 
with  mere  obstinacy,  saying,  that  in  religious  afiairs,  God, 
and  not  man,  was  to  be  obeyed.  Being  for  this  cut  off 
from  the  church,  and  appealing  to  the  Pope,  they  were,  in 
the  council  immediately  preceding  that  of  Lateran,  con- 
demned as  altogether  pertinacious  and  schismaticah  from 
whence,  becoming  hated  and  execrated  by  all  men,  they 
wandered  about  without  a  home,  and  spread  themselves  up 
and  down  in  Languedoc,  Lombardy,  and  especially  amongst 
the  Alps,  where  they  lay  concealed  and  secure  for  many 
years.  They  were  charged  with  these  tenets — that  the 
church  of  Rome,  because  it  renounced  the  true  faith  of 
Christ,  was  the  whore  of  Babylon,  and  that  barren  tree 
which  Christ  himself  cursed,  and  commanded  to  be  plucked, 
up — that,  consequently,  no  obedience  was  to  be  paid  to 
the  Pope,  or  to  the  bishops,  who  maintain  her  errors — that 
a  monastic  life  was  the  sink  and  dungeon  of  the  church; 
the  vows  of  which  were  vain,  and  served  only  to  promote 
the  vile  love  of  boys — that  the  orders  of  the  priesthood 
were  marks  of  the  great  beast  mentioned  in  the  Revelation 
— that  the  fire  of  purgatory,  tlie  solemn  mass,  the  conse- 
r ration-days  of  churches,  the  worship  of  saints,  and  pro- 
pitiations for  the  dead,  were  the  devices  of  Satan.  Besides 
these  principal  and  authentic  heads  of  their  doctrine,  others 
were  pretended,  relating  to  marriage,  the  resurrection,  the 
state  of  the  soul  after  death,  and  to  meats.  Peter  Waldo, 
therefore,  their  leader,  quitting  his  country,  came  into  the 
Netherlands,  and  having  gained  many  followers  in  that 
province,  which  is  now  called  Picardy,  he  removed  from 
thence  into  Germany;  and  after  a  long  abode  amongst  the 
Vol.  it.  Y 


158  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [ch.  v. 

Vandal  cities,  settled  at  last  in  Bohemia,  where,  even  at 
this  day,  the  professors  of  that  doctrine  are  from  thence 
called  Picards.  Waldo  had  a  companion  named  Arnold, 
who  by  a  different  route  fell  into  Languedoc,  and  fixed  him- 
self at  Alby,  formerly  called  Alba  of  the  Helvians,  from 
whence  came  the  Albigenses,  who  in  a  little  time  spread 
themselves  amongst  the  people  of  Toulouse,  Roiiergue, 
Le  Quercy,  and  Agen.  Arnold  was  succeeded  by  Esperon 
and  Joseph,  and  from  these  Gregory  IX.  denominated  them 
Arnoldists,  Esperonites,  and  Josephists,  and  also  Gazars, 
as  all  heretics  at  this  day  arc  called  throughout  Germany 
and  the  northern  countries;  which  name  is  supposed  to  be 
taken  from  the  emperor  Leo  III.,  named  Gaxar,  whom  the 
Roman  pontiffs  accused  beyond  all  other  men  of  sacrilege 
and  erroneous  principles;  though  in  other  books  they  are 
styled  the  Pure,  (Puritans,)  which  name  is  also  given  to 
such  as  pretend  to  a  purer  doctrine  in  England.  The 
same  people  are  also  called  Leonines,  from  that  Leo,  who 
is  nevertheless  represented  as  a  just  and  prudent  prince,  by 
Zonaras  himself,  who  yet  charges  him  with  heretical  pra- 
1  ity.  He,  at  the  persuasion  of  Theodotus  a  monk,  had 
removed  out  of  the  churches  all  pictures  and  statues,  which 
he  considei'ed  as  the  fuel  of  impiety,  and  as  traps  to  catch 
the  ignorant  multitude,  by  which  God  was  offended;  for 
which  reason  he  was  called  the  enemy  of  images.  Though 
others  imagine  them  to  be  rather  called  Leonines  from  one 
Leo,  a  Frenchman  of  that  sect,  because  Leo  tlie  emperor 
was  too  far  distant  from  those  times  and  places.  Thus, 
however,  they  were  nicknamed,  either  from  their  authors 
or  favourers.  From  the  place  they  were  also  styled  Poor 
Men  of  Lyons,  Albigenses,  and  in  different  quarters,  for 
different  causes,  Tramontanes,  Paterines,  Lollards,  Tur- 
lupins,  and  lastly,  Chaignards.  As  they  carried  divers 
faces,  though  their  tails  were  tied  together,  (as  Pope  Gre- 
gory IX.  expresses  it,  because  they  inveighed  too  vehe- 
mently against  the  wealth,  pride,  and  vices  of  the  Popes, 
and  alienated  the  people  by  degrees  from  their  obedience 


SECT.  VIII.]  Character  of  Wickliff.  1 5& 

to  them,)  Innocent  III.  used  at  first  the  spiritual  sword 
against  them,  sending  to  the  Albigenses  twelve  abbots  of 
the  Cistercian  order,  and  after  them  Diego,  bishop  of  Ox- 
ford, who  carried  with  him  that  Dominic  who  afterwards 
founded  the  Dominican  order.  But  when  he  found  little 
success  that  way,  laying  aside  the  spiritual  sword  he  drew 
the  iron  one,  and  made  Leopold  the  Sixth,  Duke  of  Austria, 
for  Germany,  and  Simon  of  Montfort,  for  France,  com- 
manders in  the  holy  war,  to  whom  many  others  joined 
themselves.  Though  from  that  time  they  were  persecuted 
from  place  to  place,  yet  at  intervals  there  appeared  some 
who  frequently  revived  their  doctrine ;  as  John  Wickliff  in 
England,  John  Huss,  and  Jerome  of  Prague,  in  Bohemia. 
And  in  our  age,  since  the  general  reception  of  Luther's 
doctrine,  their  scattered  remains  began  to  reunite,  and 
with  the  increase  of  Luther's  name  to  gather  strength  and 
authority,  especially  in  the  regions  of  the  Alps  and  the 
adjacent  provinces."* 

The  usurpations  of  the  court  of  Rome  had  reached  their 
highest  pitch  about  the  thirteenth  or  fourteenth  century. 
That  astonishing  system  of  spiritual  tyranny  had  drawn- 
within  its  vortex  almost  the  whole  government  of  England^ 
The  pope's  haughty  legate,  spurning  at  all  law  and  equity, 
made  even  the  ministers  of  justice  to  tremble  at  his  tri- 
bunal; parliaments  were  overawed  and  sovereigns  obliged 
to  temporize,  while  the  lawless  ecclesiastic,  entrenched 
behind  the  authority  of  councils  and  decrees,  set  at  nought 
the  civil  power,  and  opened  an  asylum  to  any,  even  the 
most  profligate,  disturbers  of  society.  In  the  mean-time 
the  taxes  collected,  under  various  pretexts,  by  the  agents 
of  the  See  of  Rome,  amounted  to  five  times  as  much  as 
the  taxes  paid  to  the  king! 

The  insatiable  avarice,  and  insupportable  tyranny,  of  the 
court  of  Rome,  had  given  such  universal  disgust,  that  a 
bold  attack  made  about  this  time  on  the  authority  of  that 

*  Thuanus's  History  of  his  own  Times,  b.  v'u 


160  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [ch.  v. 

court,  and  doctrines  of  that  church,  was,  at  first,  more  suc- 
cessful than  could  have  been  expected,  in  that  dark  super- 
stitious age.     This  attack   was  made  by  the  famous  John 
Wickliff,  who  was  one  of  the  best  and  most  learned  men 
of  the   age  in  which   he  flourished.     His  reputation  for 
learning,  piety,  and  virtue  was  so   great,   that  Archbishop 
Islep  appointed  him  the  first  warden  of  Canterbury  college, 
Oxford,  in  1365.     His  lectures  in  divinity  which  he  read 
in  that  university  were  much  admired,  though  in  these  lec- 
tures he  treated  the  clergy,  and  particularly  the  mendicant 
friars,  with  no  little  freedom   and  severity.     A  discourse 
which  he  published  against  the  Pope's  demand  of  homage 
and  tribute  from  Edward  III.,  for  the  kingdom  of  England, 
recommended  him  so  much  to  that  prince,  that  he  bestowed 
upon  him  several  benefices,  and  employed  him  in  several 
embassies.     In    one    of  these  embassies   to    the   court  of 
Rome,  in  1374,  he  discovered  so  many  of  the  corruptions 
of  tliat  court,  and  of  the  errors  of  that  church,  that  he  be- 
came more  bold  and  more  severe  in  his  censures  of  those 
errors  and  corruptions.     He   even  proceeded  so  far,  as  to 
call  the  Pope  Antichrist,  to  deny  his  supremacy,  and  to  ex- 
pose his  intolerable  tyranny  and  extortions  in  the  strongest 
colours.     This,  as  might  naturally  have  been  expected, 
drew  upon  him  the  indignation  of  bis  holiness,  and  invol- 
ved him  in  various  troubles.     Pope  Gregory  XI.  published 
several  thundering  bulls  against  him,  in  1 377,  commanding 
him  to  be  seized,  imprisoned,  and  brought  to  trial,  for  his 
damnable  heresies.     The  afi'ection  of  the  people,   and  the 
favour  of  the  court,  protected  him  from  imprisonment;  but 
he  found  it  necessary  to  appear  before  Simon  Sudbury, 
archbishop  of  Canterbury,   and  William  Courtney,  bishop 
of  London,   who   had  been  appointed  his  judges   by  the 
Pope.     At  this  appearance  he  had  the   honour  to   be  ac- 
companied by  two  of  the   greatest  men   in   the  kingdom, 
John  of  Gaunt,  duke  of  Lancaster,  and  Lord  Henry  Percy, 
marshal  of  England.     These  two  lords  demanded  a  chair 
forWicklitf;  which  being  denied  by  the  bishop  of  London, 


aECT.  viii.J     Proceedings  against  Wicklijf.  IGl 

some  very  angry  words  passed  between  that  prelate  and 
the  Duke  of  Lancaster;  which  excited  so  violent  a  tumult 
in  the  court,  that  it  broke  up  in  great  confusion,  without 
doing  any  business.  Wickliff  made  a  second  appearance 
before  the  papal  commissioners  at  Lambeth,  where  he  was 
attended  by  so  great  a  body  of  the  citizens  of  London, 
that  his  judges  were  deterred  from  pronouncing  any  sen- 
tence against  him ;  and  their  commission  soon  after  termi- 
nated by  the  death  of  the  Pope,  March  27,  1378. 

It  is  very  difficult  to  discover,  with  certainty  and  preci- 
sion, what  were  the  real  sentiments,  in  some  particulars, 
of  this  illustrious  champion  of  truth  and  libert}',  against 
the  errors  and  tyranny  of  the  church  of  Rome ;  because 
he  seems  in  some  things,  to  have  changed  his  mind  ;  and 
because  certain  tenets  were  imputed  to  him  by  his  adver- 
saries which  he  did  not  hold.  It  very  plainly  appears  from 
liis  writings,  that  the  doctrines  which  he  taught  were  very 
nearly  the  same  with  those  which  were  propagated  by  our 
more  successful  reformers  in  the  sixteenth  century. 

The  prosecution  against  Wicklift'  was  suspended  for 
some  time,  by  the  schism  in  the  papacy  which  succeeded 
the  death  of  Gregory  XL,  and  by  the  insurrection  of  the 
Commons  in  England,  which  threw  all  things  into  confu- 
sion. In  this  tumult,  Archbishop  Sudbury,  one  of  his  most 
zealous  adversaries,  was  beheaded  by  the  insurgents  on 
Tower-hill,  June  14,  1381.  William  Courtney,  bishop  of 
London,  was  promoted  to  the  primacy  by  a  bull  of  Pope 
Urban  VI.  (who  had  been  acknowledged  in  England  to  be 
the  lawful  Pope,)  dated  the  8th  of  September  in  the  same 
year.  As  soon  as  the  insurrection  of  the  Commons  was 
quelled,  and  the  public  tranquillity  restored,  the  new  pri- 
mate applied  with  great  zeal  to  the  suppression  of  the  here- 
tical opinions,  as  he  esteemed  them,  which  were  propagated 
by  Wicklilf  and  his  followers.  Witii  this  view,  he  assem- 
bled a  council  of  the  bishops  of  his  province,  aiid  many  doc- 
tors of  divinity,  and  of  the  civil  and  canon  law,  in  the  pri- 
ory of  the  preaching  friars,  London,  May  17, 1382.    Before 


162  History  of  the  Christian  Church,  [ch.  v. 

this  council  he  laid  twenty-four  opinions,  extracted  from  the 
writings  of  Wickliff,  for  their  examination ;  and  the  coun- 
cil unanimously  declared  ten  of  these  opinions  heretical, 
and  fourteen  of  them  erroneous.  Several  suspected  persons 
were  then  brought  before  the  council,  particularly  Nicholas 
Hereford  and  Philip  Rapyngdon,  doctors  in  divinity,  and 
John  Ayshton,  A.  M.,  and  commanded  to  declare  their  sen- 
timents of  these  opinions.  Their  declarations  appearing 
to  the  council  evasive  and  unsatisfactory,  they  were  pro- 
nounced to  be  convicted  of  heresy.  The  ancient  historian 
Henry  Knyghton  relates,  that  Wickliff  was  brought  before 
this  council,  and  that  he  made  a  kind  of  recantation  of  his 
lieretical  opinions.  But  as  nothing  of  this  appears  in  the 
record,  it  is  probably  a  mistake  if  not  a  calumny.  On  the 
day  after  the  conclusion  of  this  council,  there  was  a  solemn 
procession  in  London  ;  after  which  Dr.  Kinygham,  a  Car- 
melite friar,  preached  to  the  people,  and  published  the  doc- 
trines which  had  been  condemned ;  declaring,  that  all  per- 
sons who  taught,  favoured,  or  believed  any  of  these  doc- 
trines, were  excommunicated  heretics.  To  give  the  greater 
weight  to  the  decrees  of  this  council,  the  clergy  prevailed 
upon  the  king  to  publish  a  proclamation,  July  12,  author- 
izing and  commanding  the  bishops  to  seize  and  imprison 
all  persons  who  were  suspected  of  holding  any  of  the  doc- 
trines which  had  been  condemned. 

The  doctrines  of  Wickliff  had  for  some  years  made  a 
mighty  noise  in  the  University  of  Oxford,  where  they  were 
first  published,  and  where  they  had  many  violent  opposers, 
and  many  zealous  advocates.  Dr.  Berton,  who  was  chan- 
cellor of  the  universit}^  in  1381,  and  Dr.  Stokes,  were  at  the 
head  of  the  forraer,  and  Dr.  Hereford  and  Dr.  Rapyngdon 
at  the  head  of  the  latter.  The  Archbishop  of  Canterbury 
sent  the  decrees  of  his  late  council  to  Oxford,  commanding 
Dr.  Stokes  to  publish  them  at  St.  Frideswyde's  church,  on 
Corpus-Christi  day  ;  and  Dr.  Rigge,  the  chancellor  of  the 
university,  to  f>.ssist  and  protect  him  in  performing  that 
office.     Dr.  Philip  Rapyngdon   had   been   appointed    to 


SECT.  VIII.]  TVickliff^s  letter  to  Hitss.  16o 

preach  at  that  church  on  that  day,  and  he  declaimed  with 
great  vehemence  against  the  corruptions  of  the  churcli, 
and  in  defence  of  the  doctrines  of  Wicklifl';  and  his  ser- 
mon was  heard  with  approbation.  But  when  Dr.  Stokes 
attempted  to  publish  the  decrees  of  the  council  of  London, 
he  was  interrupted  with  clamours  and  reproaches  ;  which 
obliged  him  to  desist,  without  having  received  any  counte- 
nance or  protection  from  the  chancellor  or  proctors,  who 
were  secret  favourers  of  the  new  opinions.  For  this 
negligence  they  were  summoned  to  appear  before  Arch- 
bishop Courtney,  who  treated  them  very  roughly,  and  by 
threats  prevailed  upon  them  to  return  to  Oxford,  and  to 
publish  the  decrees  of  the  council  of  London,  both  in 
Latin  and  English,  first  in  St.  Mary's  church,  and  after- 
wards in  the  schools. 

While  the  doctrines  of  Wickliff  were  propagated  and 
opposed  with  so  much  zeal,  at  Oxford  and  other  places,  he 
(being  in  a  declining  state  of  health)  resided,  during  the 
two  last  years  of  his  life,  at  his  living  of  Lutterworth,  in 
Leicestershire,  employed  in  finishing  his  translation  of  the 
Bible,  and  other  works.  Being  seized  with  a  stroke  of  the . 
palsy,  which  deprived  him  of  his  speech,  December  28, 
1384,  he  expired  on  the  last  day  of  that  year.*     As  the 


*  It  appears  that  before  the  death  of  Wickliff,  his  principles  had 
extended  into  Bohemia,  and  that  John  Huss  had  beg^un  to  sow  the 
seeds  of  reform  in  that  country  also.  The  following  letter  written  by 
our  great  English  reformer,  in  the  last  year  of  his  life,  is  too  valuable 
to  be  omitted. 

Letter  from  Wickliff  to  Huss. 

Health  and  Salvation  ;  and  if  any  thing  can  be  devised  or  expressed 
more  loving  and  dear  in  the  boicels  of  Jesus  Christ. 

"  Dear  brethren  in  the  Lord,  whom  I  love  in  the  truth,  and  not  I 
only,  but  all  those  who  know  the  truth ;  1  say  that  the  truth,  which 
dwelleth  in  us  by  the  Grace  of  God,  shall  be  with  us  for  ever.  I  re- 
joiced greatly  at  the  brethren,  coming  to  us  from  you  ,bearing  testi- 
mony of  you  in  the  truth,  and  that  ye  walk  in  truth.  I  have  heard 
bow  Antichrist  troubleth  you,  causing  many  and  various  tribulations 
to  the  faithful  in  Christ.    And  no  wonder  that  such  things  should  be 


164  History  of  the  Christian  Church.         [ch.  v. 

clergy  had  hated  and  persecuted  him  with  great  violence 
during  his  life,  they  exulted  with  indecent  joy  at  his  disease 


(lone  among  j-ou,  since  the  law  of  Christ  suffereth  oppression  from  its 
adversaries  over  all  the  world  ;  and  from  that  red  dragon  with  many 
heads,  which  John  speaks  of  in  the  Revelations,  that  cast  out  of  his 
mouth  water  as  a  flood  after  the  woman,  that  she  might  be  carried 
away  of  it.     But  the  Lord,  who  is  faithftil,  will  certainly  rescue  his 
dearly  beloved  spouse.     Let  us  be  strengthened  and  comforted  in  the 
Lord  our  God,  and  in  his  infinite  goodness,  and  be  firmly  persuaded 
that  he  will  not  permit  his  beloved  to  fail  of  his  proposed  rewards  for 
them,  if  we  only  love  him  (as  we  ought)  with  our  whole  heart.     For 
adversity  shall  not  prevail  over  us,  if  iniquity  do  not  prevail.     There- 
fore let  no  affliction,  pressure,  or  torment,  for  the  sake  of  Christ,  cast 
us  down,  or  cause  us  to  despair ;  since  we  know,  that  whomsoever 
the  Lord  accounteth  as  sons,  he  chasteneth.    For  the  Father  of  Mercy 
exerciscth  us  in  adversity  in  this  present  life,  that  he  may  afterwards 
spare  us  ;  as  that  gold  which  a  skilful  workman  chooseth  is  tried  in 
the  fire  by  him,  that  afterwards  he  may  put  it  into  his  pure,  eternal, 
treasure.     We  know  that  this  present  life  is  but  short  and  transitory  : 
but  that  life  which  we  expect,  and  which  is  to  come,  is  happy  and  eter- 
nal.    Let  us  labour,  while  we  have  time,  that  we  may  be  found  wor- 
thy to  enter  into  that  rest.     Let  me  entreat  you  to  consider,  that  we 
see  nothing  else  in  this  life,  but  grief,  anguish,  and  sorrow  ;  and,  what 
ought  to  trouble  the   faithful  most  of  all,  a  contempt  and  trampling 
down  of  the  divine  laws.     Let  us  endeavour  as  much  as  lies  in  our 
power,  to  lay  hold  of  those  good  things,  which  shall  always  , endure, 
and  be  eternal ;  denying  our  transient  and  frail  senses.     Let  us  look 
back  upon  and  consider  the  behaviour  of  our  ancestors  in  former  ages. 
Let  us  call  to  mind  the  saints  of  both  the  Old  and  New  Testament ; 
how  they  bore  tossings,  tempests,  and  adversities,  in  this  sea  of  trouble, 
—imprisonments,  and  bonds.     They  were  stoned  ;  they  were  sawn 
asunder;  they  were  slain  by  the  sword.     They  wandered  about  in 
sheep  and  in  g-oat  skins,  and  other  such  like  tilings ;  as  the  epistle  to 
the  Hebrews  rccounteth  at  large  ;  all  walking  in,  and  following  the 
footsteps  of  Christ,   in  that  narrow  path,  who  said,    '  Where  I  am, 
there  shall  my  servant  be  also.'     Since  we  have  such  a  cloud  of  wit- 
nesses of  the  saints  in  former  times  placed  before  us,  lot  us  lay  aside 
every  offence  and  weight,  yea  sin,  which  besets  us,  and  run  with  pa- 
tience the  race  that  is  set  before  us ;  looking  tn  .lesus,  the  author  and 
finisher  of  our  faith  ;  who  cheerfully  endured  Ihe  cross,  despising  all 
contempt  and  shame.     Let  us  consider  how  lie  bore  such  contradiction 
against  himself  from  sinners,  and  let  us  not  bo  weary  with  desponding 
mmds :  but  let  us  beg  assistance  from  the  Lord,  with  all  our  heart, 
and  fight  manfuUj^  against  his  adversar}-.  Antichrist.     Let  us  love  his 
laws  with  all  our  heart,  and  be  not  fraudulent  and  deceitful  labourers  ; 
bat  act  boldly  in  all  things,  as  far  as  the  Lord  permits  us :  and  let  u* 


SECT    VIII.]  fVickliff^s  character  vilified.  1G5 

and  death,  ascribing  them  to  the  immediate  vengeance  of 
Heaven  for  his  heresy.  "  On  the  day  of  St.  Thomas  the 
Martyr,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,"  says  Walsingham,  a 
cotemporary  historian,  "  that  limb  of  the  devil,  enemy  of 
the  church,  deceiver  of  the  people,  idol  of  heretics,  mirror 
of  hypocrites,  author  of  schisms,  sower  of  hatred,  and  in- 
ventor of  lies,  John  Wickliif,  was,  by  the  immediate  judg- 
ment of  God,  suddenly  struck  with  a  palsy,  which  seized 
all  the  members  of  his  body,  when  he  was  ready,  as  they 
say,  to  vomit  forth  his  blasphemies  against  the  blessed  St. 
Thomas,  in  a  sermon  which  he  had  prepared  to  preach 
that  day."  But  these  reproaches  do  honour  to  his  memory, 
as  they  were  brought  upon  him  by  his  vigorous  efforts  to 
deliver  his  countrymen  irom  the  errors,  superstitions,  and 
extortions  of  the  church  of  Rome. 


be  valiant  in  the  cause  of  God,  and  in  hope  of  eternal  reward. — Do 
thou,  therefore,  O  Huss  !  a  brother  greitly  beloved  in  Christ,  un- 
known to  me  indeed  in  person,  but  not  in  faith  and  love ;  (for  what 
part  of  the  world  can  tear  asunder  and  separate  those  whom  the  love 
of  Christ  unites?)  be  coinforted  and  strengthened  in  the  grace  which 
is  given  thee.  As  a  good  soldier  of  Jesus  Christ,  war  in  word  and  in" 
deed ;  and  recal  into  the  waj'  of  truth  as  many  as  thou  art  able :  be- 
cause neither  by  erroneous  and  deceitful  decrees,  nor  by  the  false 
opinions  and  doctrines  of  Antichrist,  is  the  truth  of  the  Gospel  to  be 
kept  in  silence  and  in  secret.  Rather  comfort  and  strengthen  the 
members  of  Christ,  by  weakening  the  wiles  and  deceit  of  Satan  ;  be- 
cause Antichrist  shall  come  to  an  end  in  a  short  time ;  it  is  the  will  of 
the  Lord  !  It  is  a  great  joy  to  me,  that  not  only  in  your  kingdom,  but 
elsewhere,  God  hath  so  strengthened  the  hearts  of  some,  that  they 
surt'ar  with  pleasure,  imprisonments,  banishments,  and  even  death  itself, 
for  the  word  of  God.  I  have  nothing  more  to  write,  beloved  brethren, 
only  that  I  willingly  confess  I  would  strengthen  you,  and  all  the  lovers 
of  (^hrist's  laws,  m  the  love  of  the  law  of  God.  Therefore  I  salute  them 
from  the  bowels  of  my  heart;  particularly  your  companion  ;*  entreat- 
ing that  yon  wou'd  pray  for  me  and  the  whole  church.  And  the  God 
of  peace,  who  raised  from  tlic  dead  that  great  Shepherd  of  the  sheep, 
through  the  blood  of  the  everlasting  covenant,  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
fit  you  for  every  good  work  ;  that  ye  may  do  what  is  acceptable  to 
him,  through  Jesus  Ciirist  our  Lord  :  to  whom  be  glory  for  ever  and 
ever.    Amen. 

*  Probably  Jerome  of  Prague. 
Vol.  II.  Z 


166  History  of  the  Christian  Church..  [ch.  v. 

Though  the  joy  of  the  clergy  at  the  death  of  Wicklift' 
was  very  great,  it  was  not  of  long  duration.  They  soon 
found,  that  his  doctrines  had  not  died  with  him,  but  were 
propagated  with  great  zeal,  and  no  little  success,  by  his 
followers,  who  were  commonly  called  Lollards.*  Many 
of  those  who  were  preachers  travelled  up  and  down  the 
country  on  foot,  in  a  very  plain-  dress,  declaiming  with 
great  vehemence  against  the  corruptions  of  the  church  and 
the  vices  of  the  clergy.  These  preachers  were  not  only 
admired  and  followed  by  the  common  people,  but  were  fa- 
voured and  protected  by  several  persons  of  high  rank  and 
great  power,  particularly  by  the  duke  of  Lancaster,  the 
lords  Percy,  Latimer,  Clifford,  Hilton,  and  others.  By 
tlie  zeal,  activity,  and  eloquence  of  the  preachers,  under  the 

*  Even  to  the  present  day,  the  derivation  of  this  term  remains  a 
point  of  doubt  and  uncertainty.  Clarke,  in  his  Martyroloj}',  p.  111. 
says,  "  About  this  time,  A.  D.  1210,  the  English,  who  now  possessed 
Guienne,  which  bordereth  upon  the  Earldom  of  Toulouse,  began  to 
help  the  Albigenses,  being  stirred  up  thereto  by  Reynard  Lollard,  a 
godly  and  learned  man,  who  by  his  powerful  preacliing  converted  ma- 
ny to  the  truth,  and  defended  the  faith  of  the  Albigenses."  He  further 
adds,  that  "  John  le  Meyer  much  commends  this  Lollard,  who  foretold 
many  things  by  divine  revelation,  which,  saith  he,  came  to  pass  in  my 
time,  and  therefore  he  putteth  him  into  the  rank  of  holy  prophets. 
And  as  for  his  learning,  it  is  evident  by  his  comment  upon  the  Revela- 
tion, where  he  setteth  forth  many  things  that  are  spoken  of  the  Roman 
Antichrist.  This  worthy  man  was  afterwards  apprehended  in  Germa- 
ny, and  being  delivered  to  the  secular  power,  was  burnt  at  Cologne." 
A  few  pages  afterwards  I  find  the  following  short  paragraph  in  the 
same  volume.  Anno  Christi,  1 322,  Lollard  WaHervs.  from  whom  our 
English  professors  were  called  Lollards,  was  taken  at  Cologne,  where 
he  had  privately  preached,  and  through  God's  blessing,  drawn  many 
from  ignorance  and  error  to  embrace  the  truth,  and  persisting  con- 
stantly in  his  opinions,  he  was  condenmed  and  burnt  alive,  p.  124.  The 
discrepancies  in  these  two  accounts  are  so  many  and  palpable,  that 
they  are  hot  easily  reconciled.  I  find  no  evidence  that  there  wore 
two  persons  of  the  name  of  Lollard,  at  the  distance  of  more  than  a  cen- 
tury from  each  other,  both  preachers  of  the  Gospel,  and  burnt  at  Co- 
logne for  heresy.  It  is  observable  too,  that  even  the  latter  account 
fixes  the  martyrdom  of  Lollard  two  years  before  the  birth  of  WicklifT, 
who,  therefore,  though  he  may  have  read  sonte  of  his  writings,  could 
not  possibly  have  seen  him  nor  been  instructed  by  him. 


SECT.  VIII.]       Progress  of  ffickliff^s  Doctrine.  107 

protection  of  these  great  men,  the  new  doctrines,  as  they 
were  called,  gained  ground  so  fast,  that,  as  a  cotemporary 
historian  of  the  best  credit  afiirms,  "  more  tlian  one  hah' of 
the  people  of  England,  in  a  few  years,  became  Lollards." 
The  same  historian,  who  was  a  clergyman,  and  a  most  in- 
veterate enemy  to  the  Lollards,  acknowledges,  that  as  Wick- 
li/1'  excelled  all  the  learned  men  of  his  age  in  disputation,  so 
some  of  his  followers,  in  a  ver}'.  little  time,  became  very 
eloquent  preachers  and  very  powerful  disputants  ;  which 
he  ascribes  to  the  assistance  of  the  devil,  who,  he  says,  took 
possession  of  them  as  soon  as  they  became  Lollards. 

The  clergy,  alarmed  and  enraged  at  this  rapid  progress 
of  the  new  opinions,  attempted  to  put  a  stop  to  it  by  vio- 
lence and  persecution,  which  have  been  often  employed  by 
power  against  truth.  They  procured,  or  at  least  promul- 
gated, a  statute,  which  still  appears  in  our  statute-book, 
(though  the  Commons,  it  is  said,  never  gave  their  assent  to 
it,)  empowering  and  commanding  all  sherifls  to  seize  and 
imprison  all  preachers  of  heresy.  They  also  prevailed  up- 
on the  King,  in  1387,  to  grant  a  commission  to  certain  per- 
sons to  seize  all  the  books  and  writings  of  John  W  icklift', 
Nicholas  Hereford,  John  A}  shton,  and  other  heretical  wri- 
ters, and  to  imprison  all  who  transcribed,  sold,  bought,  or 
concealed  such  books.  By  these  methods  the  clergy  hoped 
to  interrupt  the  preachhig  and  writing  of  the  reforming 
teachers,  by  which  they  chiefly  propagated  their  opinions. 
But  the  cotemporary  historian*  Knyghton  observes,  with  re- 
gret, "  that  these  laws  and  edicts  were  but  slowly  and  faintly 
executed,  because  the  time  of  correction  was  not  yet  come." 

Though  the  violent  factions  amongst  the  nobility,  and 
the  general  animosity  of  the  laity  against  the  clergy,  on 
account  of  their  excessive  powei'  and  riches,  prevented  for 
a  time  the  rigorous  execution  of  the  penal  statutes  against 
heretics,  several  persons  were  apprehended  and  tried  upon 
these  statutes.  Some  of  them,  as  particularly  Hereford, 
Ayshton,  and  Rapyngdon,  who  had  been  the  most  zealous 
propagators  of  WicklilT's  doctrines,  were,  by  threats  and 


168  History  of  the  Christian  Church.         [ch.  t„ 

promises,  prevailed  upon  to  make  a  kind  of  recantation, 
and  to  desist  from  preaching  these  doctrines.  Others  es- 
caped with  slight  censures,  by  giving  artful,  evasive  expla- 
nations of  their  tenets.  In  general  it  may  be  observed,  that 
the  followers  of  Wickliff  were  not  very  ambitious  of  the 
crown  of  martyrdom  ;  and  none  of  them  were  capitally 
punished  in  the  reign  of  Richard  II. 

In  spite  of  all  the  laws  that  had  been  made  in  England 
against  the  tyrannical  usurpations  of  the  court  of  Rome, 
they  still  continued,  or  rather  increased.  When  a  clerk 
had  obtained  a  sentence  in  favour  of  his  presentation  to 
a  church  in  the  king's  court,  and  the  bishop  of  the  diocess 
had  inducted  him  in  consequence  of  that  sentence,  it  was 
usual  for  the  Pope,  on  the  complaint  of  the  losing  party, 
to  excommunicate  the  bishop.  When  an  English  bishop 
had  by  any  means  offended  his  holiness,  he  sometimes 
punished  him,  by  translating  him  to  a  foreign  see,  without 
his  own  consent,  or  that  of  the  king.  Upon  a  complaint  of 
these  papal  usurpations  by  the  Conunons,  in  a  parliament 
at  Winchester,  in  1392,  a  very  severe  law  was  made  for 
the  punishment  of  those  who  solicited,  or  brought  into  the 
kingdom,  any  papal  bulls  of  excommunication,  translation, 
or  other  thing  against  the  rights  and  dignity  of  the  crown. 

These  contests  betweeu  the  king  and  parliament  of  En- 
gland and  the  court  of  Rome,  encouraged  the  Lollards  to 
make  a  bold  and  direct  attack  on  the  established  church. 
Accordingly,  they  presented  to  a  parliament,  which  was 
held  by  the  Duke  of  York  (the  king  being  in  Ireland,)  at 
Westminster,  in  1394,  a  remonstrance  containing  twelve 
articles  of  complaint  against  the  church  and  clergy ;  pray- 
hig  for  redress  and  reformation.  In  this  remonstrance, 
they  complain  chiefly  of  the  exorbitant  power,  excessive 
wealth,  and  profligate  lives  of  the  clergy,  which  last  they 
ascribe  chiefly  to  their  vows  of  celibacy  ; — of  transubstan- 
tiation,  and  the  superstitious  practices  which  the  belief  of  it 
produced ; — of  prayers  for  the  dead ; — of  the  worship  of 
images; — of  pilgrimages ; — of  auricular  confession,  and  its 


SECT.  Till.]     Proceedings  against  the  Lollards.  1G9 

consequences; — and  of  several  other  particulars  in  which 
the  present  Protestant  churches  difier  from  the  church  of 
Rome.  What  reception  this  remonstrance  met  with  from 
the  parliament,  we  are  not  informed.  About  the  same 
time  the  Lollards  published  several  satirical  papers,  paint- 
ing the  deceitful  arts,  abominable  vices,  and  absurd  opi- 
nions, of  the  clergy  in  very  strong  colours ;  which  excited 
both  the  contempt  and  hatred  of-  the  people  against  them. 
Some  of  these  papers,  written  with  much  asperity,  and  no 
little  wit,  were  pasted  up  on  the  most  public  places  in  Lon- 
don and  Westminster. 

The  clerg}'  were  so  much  alarmed  at  these  bold  attacks, 
that  they  dispatched  the  Archbishop  of  York,  the  Bishop 
of  London,  and  several  other  commissioners,  to  the  King 
in  Ireland,  to  entreat  him  to  return  immediately  into  En- 
gland, to  protect  the  church,  which  was  in  danger  of  de- 
struction. "As  soon,"  says  a  cotemporary  historian,  "as 
the  king  heard  the  representation  of  the  commissioners, 
being  inspired  with  the  Divine  Spirit,  he  hastened  uito  En- 
gland, thinking  it  more  necessary  to  defend  the  church  than 
to  conquer  kingdoms."  On  his  arrival,  he  called  before 
him  the  lords  Clifford,  Latimer,  Montague,  and  other  great 
men  who  favoured  the  Lollards,  and  threatened  them  with 
immediate  death,  if  they  gave  any  further  encouragement 
to  heretical  preachers.  Intimidated  by  these  threats,  they 
complied  with  the  king's  desire,  and  withdrew  their  protec- 
tion. 

Several  of  the  Lollard  preachers,  discouraged  by  this  de- 
fection of  their  patrons,  soon  after  recanted  their  opinions, 
and  returned  into  the  bosom  of  the  church.  Thomas 
Arundel,  archbishop  of  York,  who  was  a  most  violent 
enemy  to  the  Lollards,  obliged  those  in  his  province  who 
recanted,  to  take  the  following  curious  oath,  which  I  give 

in  the  original  language  and  spelling :  "I ,  before  you, 

worshipful  fader  and  lord  archbishop  of  Yhork,  and  your 
clergy,  with  my  free  will  and  full  avysed,  swere  to  God 
and  to  all  his  seyntes,  upon  his  holy  gospel,  that  fro  this 


170  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [ch.  v. 

day  forthword,  I  shall  worship  images,  with  praying  and 
offering  unto  them,  in  the  worship  of  the  seyntes,  that  they 
may  be  made  after;  and  also,  I  shall  never  more  despise 
pylgremage,  ne  states  of  holy  chyrche,  in  no  dcgre.  And 
also  I  shall  be  buxiim  to  the  laws  of  holy  chyrche,  and  to 
yhowe  as  to  myn  archbishop,  and  myn  other  ordinaries 
and  curates,  and  keep  the  laws  up  my  power  and  meyntein 
them.  And  also,  I  shall  never  more  meyntein,  ne  techen, 
ne  defenden,  errors,  conclusions,  ne  techeng  of  the  Lollards, 
ne  swych  conclusions  and  techengs  that  men  clopeth  Lol- 
lard's doctrine;  ne  shall  her  books,  ne  swych  books,  ne 
hem  or  ony  suspect  or  diffamed  of  Lollardary,  receyve  or 
company  with  ail,  willingly,  or  defend  in  tho  matters;  and 
if  1  know  any  swych,  I  shall,  with  all  the  hast  that  I  may, 
do  yhowe,  or  els  your  nex  officers,  to  wyten,  and  of  ther 
bokes,  Stc."* 

The  kingdom  of  Bohemia  is,  in  point  of  territorial  sur- 
face, the  most  elevated  ground,  the  most  mountainous,  and 
by  nature  the  strongest  in  Germany.  Its  inhabitants  too 
have  ever  been  distinguished  by  the  loftiness  of  their  spirit, 
and  the  vigour  and  success  of  their  struggles  for  civil 
and  religious  liberty.  The  country  is  almost  surrounded 
by  the  mountains  of  the  famous  Hyrcanian  forest,  whose 
sides,  broken  into  many  sloping  ridges,  intersect  this  lofty 
and  spacious  amphitheatre,  and  form  a  landscape  bold, 
various,  and  of  great  beauty.  The  metropolis  of  the 
country  is  Prague,  a  city  of  great  extent,  stretching  along 
the  banks,  and  on  either  side  of  the  river  Mulda,  adorned 
with  many  sumptuous  edifices,  and  particularly  two  strong- 
castles,  one  of  which  was  the  residence  of  the  ancient  Bo- 
hemian kings.  The  ancient  inhabitants  are  represented 
by  cotemporar}'  historians,   as  a  people  of  a  ruddy  com- 

*  Collier's  Ecclesiastical  History,  Vol.  I.  p.  598-9.  Wood's  History 
of  Oxon,  190 — 192.  Lewis's  Life  of  Wickliff,  Anglia  Sacra,  torn.  2. 
p.  121.  Walsing^bam,  page  :201 — "^Oo.  Biograpliia  Britannica,  Art. 
Wickliff.  SpeUnan's  Council,  torn.  2.  p.  629—636.  Henry'.s  Great 
Britain,  Vol.  VIIL,  8vo.  b.  4.  ch.  2.  sect.  2. 


SECT.  VIII.]  Bohemians  divided  into  three  sects.  171 

plexion,  and  of  enormous  stature  and  muscular  strength; 
in  their  dispositions  intrepid,  fierce,  proud,  quick  in  resent- 
ing injuries,  of  a  haughty  deportment,  lovers  of  a  rude 
magnificence  and  pomp,  and  naturally  addicted  to  revels 
and  intemperance.  The  native  language  of  Bohemia  is 
the  Sclavonic,  which  also  appears  to  have  been  the  mother 
tongue  of  the  Tartars,  and  their  offspring  the  Turks,  and 
of  all  the  nations  inhabiting  those  regions  which  extend 
from  ^he  northern  parts  of  Russia  to  Turkey  in  Europe.* 

The  authorit}'  of  the  church  of  Rome  was  never  so 
great  and  general  as  entirely  to  l)anish  from  the  nations  of 
Europe  a  spirit  of  inquiry,  or  the  love  of  knowledge. 
During  the  thickest  darkness  of  the  middle  agrs,  a  star 
appeared  here  and  there  in  the  firmament,  which  reflected 
the  light  of  ancient  times,  and  formed  a  presage,  that  al- 
though the  sun  of  science  was  set,  it  would  return  to  en- 
lighten bewildered  nations.  We  have  seen  that  so  early 
as  the  eighth  century,  Claude  of  Turin,  sowed  the  seeds  of 
reformation  in  the  valleys  of  Piedmont,  whence  they  were 
gradually  transplanted  into  other  countries.  In  the  thir- 
teenth century,  the  Waldenses  or  Albigenses,  names  almost' 
indiscriminately  applied  to  the  disciples  of  Claude,  were 
multiplied  throughout  France  to  an  astonishing  degree ; 
and  when  scattered  by  the  persecuting  power  of  Rome, 
they  were  driven  into  Bohemia,  Livonia,  and  Poland,  in 
the  former  of  which  places  we  learn  that  there  were  no 
less  than  eighty  thousand  of  them  at  the  commencement 
of  the  fourteenth  century. 

We  are  informed  by  Sleidan,  that  the  Bohemians  were 
divided,  on  the  article  of  religion,  into  three  classes,  or 
sects.  The  first  were  such  as  acknowledged  the  Pope  of 
Rome  to  be  head  of  the  church,  and  vicar  of  Jesus  Christ; 
'the    second    were   those   that   received   the   eiicharist   in 


*  Namely,  Russia,  Poland,  Lithuania,  Hungary,  Transylvania, 
Sclavonia,  Croatia,  Istria,  Wallachia,  Szc,  &:c.  See  Dr.  Watson's 
History  of  Pbilip  III.,  King  of  Spain,  b.  vi. 


172  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [cH.  v. 

* 
both   kinds,  and  in  celebrating  mass,  read  some  things  in 

the  vulgar  tongue,  but  in  all  other  matters  differed  nothing 
from  the  church  of  Rome;  the  third  were  those  who  went 
bj  the  name  of  Picards  or  Beghardi — these  called  the 
Pope  of  Rome  and  all  his  party  Antichrist,  and  the  whore 
that  is  described  in  the  Revelation,  (ch.  xvii.)  They  ad- 
mitted, says  he,  of  nothing  but  the  Bible,  (as  the  ground 
of  their  doctrine ;)  they  chose  their  own  priests  and  bishops, 
denied  marriage  to  no  man,  performed  no  offices  for  the 
dead,  and  had  but  very  few  holy-days  and  ceremonies.* 
It  is  obvious,  therefore,  that  the  latter  class  alone  were 
the  genuine  Waldenses,  and  that  the  second  were  a  species 
of  dissenting-conformists,  differing  but  little  from  our  En- 
glish Episcopalians.  It  is  proper  the  reader  should  keep 
this  distinction  clearly  in  view;  he  will  otherwise  fall  into 
a  mistake  which  is  very  prevalent,  respecting  the  principles 
of  John  Huss  and  Jerome  of  Prague,  who  are  generally 
supposed  to  have  belonged  to  the  sect  of  the  Waldenses, 
though,  in  fact,  they  ranked  with  the  second  class  men- 
tioned by  Sleidan,  and  never  gave  up  the  communion  of 
the  church  of  Rome.  They  were  in  Bohemia  what  Wick- 
liff  was  in  England,  members  of  the  established  church, 
dissatisfied  with  its  corruptions,  and  strenuous  advocates 
for  a  reform  both  in  its  doctrine  and  discipline,  like  many 
of  the  evangelical  clergy  in  our  day,  but  without  the  virtue 
of  dissenting  from  its  communion,  and  of  bearing  a  public 
arid  decided  testimony  to  its  antichristian  spirit  and  con- 
stitution. The  whole  of  the  history  of  these  Reformers, 
which  is  so  circumstantially  given  by  L'  Enfant,  in  his 
history  of  the  council  of  Constance,  and  with  such  demon- 
strable impartiality,  affords  unquestionable  proof  of  the 
truth  of  this  observation. f 

When  or  by  whom  the  Gospel  was  first  preached  in' 
Bohemia,  is  a  very  doubtful  point.     That  Paul  preached 

*  Sleidan's  History  of  the  ReForraation,  b.  iii.  p.  53. 
f  History  of  the  Couacil  of  Constance,  Vol.  I.  passim. 


3ECT,  VIII.]     State  of  Religion  in  Bohemia.  17^ 

the  Gospel  in  Illvricum,  and  that  Titus  visited  Dalmatia, 
are  things  capable  of  proof  from  Rom.  xv.  19. — 2  Tim. 
iv.  10.  And  hence  the  Bohemians  infer,  that  it  was 
preached  in  all  the  countries  of  Sclavonia  in  the  first  ages 
of  Christianity.*  They  say  that  St.  Jerome,  a  native  of 
Illyricum,  translated  the  Scriptures  into  his  native  tongue, 
and  that  all  the  nations  of  Sclavonian  extraction  use  that 
translation  to  this  day,  just  as  the  Latin  church  use  the 
Vulgate;  and  further,  that  their  bishops  and  martyrs  are 
mentioned  in  the  early  ages  of  the  church.  But  whatever 
of  truth  there  may  be  in  this,  it  is  certain  that  Bohemia 
partook  of  the  general  corruption,  and  was  immersed  in 
the  darkness  of  superstition,  when  Waldo  and  his  friends 
sought  an  asylum  in  that  kingdom,  and  in  the  year  1176 
formed  a  colony  at  Saltz  and  Laun,  on  the  river  Eger. 
These  Waldenses  found  the  Bohemians  tenacious  of  the 
rites  and  ceremonies  of  the  Greek  church,  which  are 
scarcely  less  superstitious  than  those  of  the  church  of 
Rome;  but  they  endeavoured  to  convince  them  of  the 
defect  of  their  religious  exercises,  and  introduced  among 
them  the  knowledge  of  the  Christian  faith  in  its  purity, 
according  to  the  word  of  God.f  Popery  was  not  fully 
established  in  Bohemia  till  the  fourteenth  century,  and 
then  not  by  the  consent  of  the  Bohemians,  but  by  the 
power  and  artifice  of  the  Emperor  Charles  IV.  Two  of 
his  chaplains  endeavoured  to  persuade  his  Majesty  to  curb 
the  Pope  and  reform  the  church,  but  they  were  both  ba- 
nished for  their  oflicious  zeal.  One  of  them,  whose  name 
was  Janovius,  and  had  studied  at  Paris,  being  a  person  of 
piety  and  erudition,  was  a  very  hearty  friend  to  reform, 
and  both  preached  and  published  against  the  Antichristian 
hypocrisy  of  the  times;  but  as  he  knew  the  world,  and, 
by  residing  at  court,  thoroughly  understood  the  motives 
and  views  of  great  men,  he  comforted  his  friends  with 

*  Crantz's  History  of  the  Bohemian  Brethren,  p.  13. 
t  Paul  Stransky  de  Repub.  Bohem.  p.  2T2. 

Vol.  II.  2  A 


174  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [ch.  r, 

these  remarkable  words  just  before  he  expired.  "The 
fury  of  the  enemies  of  truth  now  prevails  against  us,  but  it 
will  not  always  be  so :  a  mean  people  will  arise  without 
sword  or  power,  and  against  them  they  will  never  be  able 
to  prevail."  A  saying  full  of  wisdom,  and  confirmed  by 
the  experience  of  ages;  for  reformation  of  abuses  rarely 
proceeds  from  those  that  are  in  the  possession  of  power. 
By  the  banishment  of  these  two  eminent  men,  the  voice  of 
reform  was  silenced.  Ignorance,  profligacy,  and  vice,  pre- 
vailed amongst  all  orders  of  men  in  the  national  church  : 
the  inquisition  was  introduced  for  the  purpose  of  enforcing 
despotism  in  the  civil  government,  and  uniformity  of  opi- 
nion in  matters  of  religion.  The  consequence  was,  that 
multitudes  withdrew  themselves  from  the  public  places  of 
worship,  and  followed  the  dictates  of  their  own  consciences 
by  worshipping  God  in  private  houses,  woods,  and  caves. 
Here  they  were  persecuted,  dragooned,  drowned,  and 
killed;  and  thus  matters  went  on  till  the  appearance  of 
John  Huss,  and  Jerome  of  Prague.* 

It  was  in  the  latter  part  of  the  life  of  WicklifF,  that  king 
Richard  II.  of  England,  married  Ann,  the  sister  of  Win- 
Keslaus,  king  of  Bohemia;  and  in  consequence  of  this  family 
alliance,  a  free  intercourse  was  opened  between  the  two 
kingdoms.  About  the  same  time  John  Huss,  who  had  been 
a  student  in  the  University  of  Prague,  where  he  had  taken 
his  degrees,  became  a  zealous  disciple  of  Wickliff.  He  was 
born  in  the  village  of  Hussinetz,  in  1373,  of  parents  not  in 
affluent  circumstances;  at  the  age  of  twenty  he  was  raised 
to  the  dignity  of  professor  in  tlie  University  of  Prague, 
and  in  1400  appointed  preacher  in  one  of  the  largest 
churches  of  that  city.  He  was  a  person  of  eminent  abili- 
ties, and  of  still  more  eminent  zeal ;  his  talents  were  popu- 
lar, his  life  irreproachable,  and  his  manners  the  most  afi'able 
and  engaging.     He  was  the  idol  of  the  populace;  but  in 


*  Crantz's  History,  p.  1.  sect.  4.  and  Robinson's  Eccles.  Eesearches, 
p.  480.     Synopsis  Hist.  Persecut.  Eccles.  Bohem.  cap.  vii. 


SECT.  VIII.]     WicMiff^s  joritings  approved  by  Huss.  175 

proportion  as  he  attracted  their  esteem  and  regard,  he  drew 
upon  himself  the  execration  of  the  priests. 

Peter  Payne,  principal  of  Edmund  Hall,  in  the  Univer- 
sity of  Oxford,  a  man  equally  distinguished  for  his  talents 
and  his  inflexible  opposition  to  the  friars,  appears  to  have 
been  the  instrument  of  first  conveying  into  Bohemia  the 
writings  of  our  countryman  Wicklilf,  of  which  he  was  a 
great  admirer.  Payne  is  said  to  have  been  a  good  dispu- 
tant, and  to  have  signalized  himself  in  a  controversy  with 
Walden,  the  Cannelite,  on  the  subjects  of  pilgrimages,  the 
eucharist,  images,  and  relics,  Sec,  &:c. — in  consequence  of 
which  he  became  so  obnoxious  to  the  clergy,  that  he  was 
obliged  to  quit  the  University  and  flee  into  Bohemia,  where 
he  carried  with  him  a  number  of  Wickliff's  tracts,  which 
were  highly  esteemed  b}'  Huss,  Jerome,  and  the  greater  pan 
of  the  University  of  Prague.  The  introduction  of  Wick- 
lift''s  writings,  however,  into  that  University,  gave  great 
offence  to  the  Archbishop  of  Prague,  who  issued  his  orders 
that  every  person  who  was  in  possession  of  them  should 
bring  the  books  to  him,  in  order  that  such  as  contain- 
ed any  thing  heretical  might  be  burnt!  And  we  are  ac-" 
eordingly  told  that  two  hundred  volumes  of  them,  finely 
written,  and  adorned  with  costly  covers  and  gold  borders, 
probably  belonging  to  some  of  the  nobility,  were  commit- 
ted to  the  flames  by  Archbishop  Sbynko;  a  conduct  which 
excited  great  disgust  in  the  minds  of  the  students  of  the 
University  of  Prague,  and  of  Huss  in  particular,  who  took 
every  opportunity  to  persuade  the  members  of  tlie  Univer- 
sity that  the  conduct  of  the  Archbishop  was  an  infringe- 
ment on  the  rights,  liberties,  and  privileges  of  their  seminary, 
whose  members  had  a  right  to  read  all  sorts  of  books  with- 
out molestation.  Huss  and  his  friends  consequently  ap- 
pealed from  the  mandate  of  the  Archbishop  to  Gregory  XII., 
who  was  then  acknowledged  Pope  in  Geraiany;  and  the 
latter  cited  the  Archbishop  to  Rome.  The  prelate,  how- 
ever, informed  his  holiness  how  deeply  the  writings  of 
Wickliff  had  taken  root  in  Bohemia,  on  which  he  obtained 


176  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [ch.  v. 

a  bull  authorizing  him  to  prevent  the  propagation  of  Wick- 
liff's  doctrine  in  his  diocess;  at  the  same  time  condemning 
them  in  the  most  pointed  manner  as  heretical,  and  issuing 
processes  against  four  eminent  doctors  of  the  University, 
who  had  refused  to  deliver  up  the  writings  of  Wickliff 
which  were  in  their  possession,  and  prohibiting  them,  not- 
withstanding their  ecclesiastical  dignities,  from  preaching 
in  any  congregation.  Huss,  and  the  members  of  the  Uni- 
versity ,  entered  a  protest  against  these  proceedings,  and  on 
the  25th  of  June,  1410,  appealed  from  the  sentence  of  the 
Archbishop  to  the  court  of  Rome.  The  affair  was  carried 
before  Pope  John  XXIII.,  who  granted  a  commission  to 
Cardinal  Colonna  to  cite  Huss  to  appear  personally  before 
him  at  Rome,  and  there  answer  to  the  accusations  laid 
against  him  of  preaching  both  errors  and  heresies.  Huss 
desired  to  be  excused  a  personal  appearance,  and  so  great- 
ly was  he  favoured  in  Bohemia,  that  king  Winceslaus,  his 
queen,  the  nobility,  and  the  university  at  large,  joined  in  a 
request  to  the  Pope,  that  he  would  dispense  with  such  an 
appearance;  and  moreover,  that  he  would  not  suffer  the 
kingdom  of  Bohemia  to  be  subject  to  the  imputation  of 
heresy,  but  permit  them  to  preach  the  Gospel  with  freedom 
in  their  places  of  worship ;  and  that  he  would  send  legates 
to  Prague,  to  correct  any  presumed  abuses,  the  expense  of 
which  should  be  defrayed  by  the  Bohemians.* 

Three  proctors  were  dispatched  to  Rome  to  tender  Huss's 
apology  to  his  holiness ;  but  the  excuses  alleged  were  deemed 
insufficient,  and  Huss  being  declared  contumacious,  was 
accordingly  excommunicated.  This  excommunication  ex- 
tended also  to  his  disciples  and  friends ;  he  himself  was 
declared  a  promoter  of  heresy,  and  an  interdict  was  pro- 
nounced against  him  !  From  these  proceedings  he  appeal- 
ed to  a  future  council;  and  notwithstanding  the  decision  of 
the  court  of  Rome,  he  retired  to  Hussinetz,  the  place  of  his 


*  Dupin's  Eccles.  Hist,  xvth  cent.     Lewis's  Life  of  Wickliff.    Rolt's 
Lives  of  the  Reformers,  p.  13. 


SECT,  viii.]  Three  Popes  ini  one  time.  177 

nativity,  where  he  boldly  continued  to  propagate  his  senti- 
ments, both  from  the  pulpit  and  by  means  of  his  pen.  The 
letters  which  he  at  this  time  wrote  are  very  numerous; 
he  also  drew  up  a  Treatise  defending  the  character  and 
writings  of  Wickliff,  and  justifying  his  own  conduct  in 
reading  his  works. 

The  extraordinary  state  of  afl'airs  at  this  juncture,  in 
reference  to  the  chair  of  St.  Peiter,  tended  for  awhile  to 
screen  Huss  from  the  vengeance  of  his  adversaries,  by  di- 
verting their  attention  from  him.  In  the  year  1378,  Pope 
Gregory  XI.  died,  and  was  succeeded  by  the  Archbishop  of 
Baj'ri,  a  Neapolitan,  who  assumed  the  name  of  Urban  VI. 
This  pontiff,  a  man  of  a  haughty  temper,  began  his  reign 
in  so  arbitrary  a  manner,  that  he  alienated  from  him  the 
affections  of  his  subjects  ;  and  his  own  cardinals  so  highly 
resented  his  behaviour  that  they  set  aside  his  election,  and 
chose  Clement  VTI.  in  his  room.  The  consequence  was, 
that  Urban  refusing  to  vacate  his  office,  there  were  two 
Popes,  laying  an  equal  claim  to  St.  Peter's  chair,  each 
strenuously  exerting  himself  to  strengthen  his  party  ;  their 
quarrel  immediately  became,  in  the  opinion  of  their  delu- 
ded votaries,  the  cause  of  God  5  each  found  adherents  in 
every  part  of  Europe,  and  a  deluge  of  human  blood  was 
spilt  in  the  contest.  During  the  period  of  more  than 
twenty  years  were  these  ambitious  prelates  roaming  up  and 
down  Europe,  like  wolves  or  beasts  of  prey,  until  at  length, 
to  put  a  termination  to  this  disgraceful  schism,  Alexander 
V.  was  elected  to  the  popedom,  hoping  that  by  this  event 
the  other  two  Popes  would  relinquish  their  claims.  But 
restless  ambition  intervened ;  neither  of  them  would  give 
up  his  power,  and  from  this  time  the  church  was  governed, 
if  such  a  state  of  anarchy  may  be  called  government,  by 
three  Popes  at  a  time — their  names  now  were  John,  Gre- 
gory, and  Benedict.  With  a  view  to  heal  this  fatal  schism, 
and  repair  the  disorders  that  had  sprung  up  during  its  con- 
tinuance, as  well  as  to  bring  about  a  reformation  of  the 
clergy,  which  was  now  loudly  and  generally  called  for,  in 


17S  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [cH.  v. 

the  year  1414,  the  Emperor  Sigisraund  conve|ie(l  the  coun- 
cil of  Constance.  Hither  from  all  parts  of  Europe,  princes 
and  prelates,  clergy,  laity,  regulars  and  seculars  flocked 
together.  Fox,  the  martyrologist,  has  given  us  a  humour- 
ous catalogue  of  this  grotesque  assembly.  "  There  were," 
says  he,  "  archbishops  and  bishops  346  ;  abbots  and  doc- 
tors 564  ;  princes,  dukes,  earls,  knights  and  squires  16,000; 
prostitutes  450 ;  barbers  600 ;  musicians,  cooks  and 
jesters  320.'* 

The  council  of  Constance  was  assembled  Nov.  10,  1414, 
to  determine  the  dispute  between  the  three  contending  fac- 
tions for  the  papacy,  and  thither  Huss  was  cited  to  appepar, 
in  order  to  justify  his  conduct  and  writings.  The  Empe- 
ror Sigismund,  brother  and  successor  of  Winceslaus,  en- 
couraged Huss  to  obey  the  summons,  and  as  an  induce- 
ment to  his  comphance,  sent  him  a  passport  with  assurance 
of  safe  conduct,  permitting  him  to  c^me  freely  to  the 
council,  and  pledging  himself  for  his  safe  return.  Huss 
consented,  and  in  all  the  cities  through  which  he  passed 
he  caused  placards  to  be  issued,  stating  that  he  was  go- 
ing to  the  Council  to  answer  all  the  accusations  that  were 
made  against  him,  inviting  his  advei*saries  to  meet  him 
there. 

No  sooner  had  Huss  arrived  \a  ithin  the  Pope's  jurisdic- 
tion, than,  regardless  of  the  Emperor's  passport,  he  was 
arrested  and  committed  close  prisoner  to  a  chamber  in  the 
palace.  Tins  violation  of  common  law  and  justice  was 
noticed  by  the  friends  of  Huss,  who  had,  out  of  the  respect 
they  bore  his  character,  accompanied  him  to  Constance. 
They  urged  the  imperial  safeconduct ;  but  the  Pope  repli-. 
ed,  that  he  never  granted  any  safeconduct;  nor  was  he 
hound  by  that  of  the  Emperor.* 

*  As  the  affair  of  the  safeconduct,  on  which  the  ag-gravation  of  >the 
injuries  done  to  Huss  so  greatly  depends,  is  placed  in  different  lights 
by  protcstant  and  popish  writers,  it  may  not  be  improper  to  inquire 
into  the  merits  of  it,  and  to  laj'  before  the  reader  the  principal  topics 
tif  the  argument  on  both  sides  of  the  question. 


SECT.  VIII.]  Memoirs  of  Jerome.  179 

Jerome  of  Prague  was  the  intimate  friend  and  compa- 
nion of  Huss  ;  inferior  to  him  in  age,  experience  and  autho- 
I'ity,  but  his  superior  in  all  liberal  endowments.  He  was  born 
at  Prague  and  educated  in  that  University.  Having  finish- 
ed his  studies,  he  travelled  into  many  countries  of  Europe, 
where  he  ^acquired  great  esteem  for  his  talents  and  virtues, 
particularly  for  his   graceful  elocution,  which   gave  him 


In  answer  to  the  protostants'  exclamations  against  so  notorious  a 
breach  of  faith,  the  papist  thus  apologizes  : 

"  We  allow,"  says  Maiinburgh,  "  that  Huss  obtained  a  safeconduct 
from  the  Emperor  :  but  for  what  end  did  he  obtain  it  ?  Why,  to  defend 
his  doctrine.  If  his  doctrine  was  indefensible,  his  pass  was  invalid.^' 
"  It  was  always,"  says  Roswcidc,  a  Jesuit,  "  supposed,  in  the  safecon- 
duct, that  justice  should  have  its  course. — Besides,"  cry  a  number  of 
apologizers,  "  the  Emperor  plainly  exceeded  his  powers.  By  the 
canon-law  he  could  not  grant  a  pass  to  a  heretic  ;  and  by  the  decretals 
the  council  might  annul  any  imperial  act. — Nay,  farther,"  says  Morery, 
"  if  we  examine  the  pass,  wc  shall  lind  it,  at  best,  a  promise  of  security 
only  till  his  arrival  at  Constance ;  or,  indeed,  rather  a  mere  recom- 
mendation of  him  to  the  cities  through  which  he  passed ;  so  that,  in 
fact  it  was  righteously  fulfilled." 

To  all  this  the  prutcstant  thus  replies  : — "  be  it  granted,  (which  is, 
in  truth,  granting  too  mucli)  that  the  safeconduct  implied  a  liberty 
only  of  defending  his  doctrine;  yet  it  was  violated,  we  fmd,  before 
that  liberty  waS' given — before  that  doctrine  was  condemned,  or  even 
examined.  And  though  the  Emperor  might  exceed  his  power  in 
granting  a  pass  to  a  heretic,  yet  Huss  was  at  this  time,  only  suspected 
of  heresy.  Nor  was  the  imperial  act  annulled  by  the  council  till  after 
the  pass  was  violated.  Huss  was  condemned  in  the  fifteenth  session, 
and  the  safeconduct  decreed  invalid  in  tlie  nineteenth.  With  regard 
to  the  deficiency  of  the  safeconduct,  which  is  Morery's  apolog}',  it 
doth  not  appear  that  it  was  ever  an  apology  of  ancient  date.  Huss,  it 
is  certain,  considered  the  safeconduct  as  a  sufficient  security  for  his 
return  home;  and,  indeed,  so  much  is  implied  in  the  very  nature  of  a 
safeconduct.  What  title  would  that  General  deserve,  who  should  in- 
vite his  enemy  into  his  quarters  by  a  pass,  and  then  seize  him .''  Fea- 
soning,  however,  apart,  let  us  call  in  fact :  Omni  prorsus  impeclimento 
remoto,  transire,  stare,  }7ioran,  et  rf.uire  liberi permittatis  sibique  et 
suis,  are  the  very  words  of  the  safeconduct." 

In  conclusion,  therefore,  we  cannot  but  judge  the  Emperor  to  have 
been  guilty  of  a  most  notorious  breach  of  faith.  The  blame,  however, 
is  generally  laid,  and  with  .some  reason,  upon  the  council  who  directed 
his  conscience.  AV'hat  true  son  of  ihe  church  would  dare  10  oppose  his 
private  opinion  against -the  unanunous  voice  of  a  general  council  ? 


180  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [cii.  v, 

great  advantages  in  the  public  seminaries.  The  Universi- 
ties of  Prague,  of  Paris,  of  Cologne,  and  of  Heidelberg, 
conferred  upon  him  the  degree  of  Master  of  Arts :  and 
having  made  the  tour  of  the  continent,  he  visited  England, 
where  he  obtained  access  to  the  writings  of  Wickliff,  which 
he  copied  out  and  returned  with  them  to  Prague.* 

As  Jerome  had  distinguished  himself  by  an  active  co- 
operation with  Huss  in  all  his  opposition  to  the  abomina- 
tions of  the  times,  he  was  cited  before  the  council  of  Con- 
stance on  the  17th  April,  1415,  at  the  time  his  friend  Huss 
was  confined  in  a  castle  near  that  city.  Arriving  shortly 
afterwards  in  Constance,  or  the  neighbourhood,  he  learnt 
how  his  friend  had  been  treated  and  what  he  himself  had  to 
expect ;  on  which  he  prudently  retired  to  Iberlingen,  an 
imperial  city,  from  whence  he  wrote  to  the  emperor  and 
council  requesting  a  safeconduct,  but  not  obtaining  one  to 
his  satisfaction,  he  was  preparing  to  return  into  Bohemia, 
when  he  was  arrested  at  Hirscliaw  and  conveyed  to  Con- 
stance. Every  one  knows  the  fate  of  these  two  eminent 
men.  They  were  both  condemned  by  the  council  to  be 
burnt  alive,  and  the  sentence  was  carried  into  effect.  Huss 
was  executed  on  the  7th  July,  1415  ;  and  Jerome  on  the 
20th  May,  1416.  The  former  sustained  his  fate  with  the 
most  heroic  fortitude,  praying  for  his  merciless  persecutors. 
Previous  to  his  execution  he  wrote  letters  to  his  friends  in 
Bohemia,  which  afibrd  a  gratifying  representation  of  the 
frame  of  his  mind.  The  following  is  an  extract  from  one 
of  them. 

"  My  dear  Friends,  let  me  take  this  last  opportunity  of 
exhorting  you  to  trust  in  nothing  here,  but  give  yourselves 
up  entirely  to  the  service  of  God.  Well  am  I  authorized 
to  warn  you  not  to  trust  in  princes,  nor  in  any  of  the  chil- 
dren of  men;  for  there  is  no  help  in  them.  God  alone 
remaineth  steadfast :  whatever  he  promises  he  will  undoubt- 
edly perform.     For  myself,  on  his  gracious  promise  I  trust. 

'    Dupin's  Ecle?.  History,  p.  1^1. 


SECT.  VIII.]         Letter  of  Poggio  BraccioUni.  181 

Having  laboured  as  his  faithful  servant,  I  am  not  afraid  of 
being  deserted  by  him.  '  Where  I  am,'  says  the  gracious 
Redeemer,  'there  shall  my  servant  be.'  May  the  God  of 
heaven  preserve  you  !  This  is  probably  the  last  letter  I 
shall  be  enabled  to  write,  having  reason  to  think  I  shall 
to-morrow  be  called  upon  to  answer  with  my  life.  Sigis- 
mund  (the  Emperor)  hath  in  all  things  acted  deceitfully. 
I  pray  God  to  forgive  him!  You  have  heard  in  what  severe 
terms  he  hath  spoken  of  me." 

If  we  may  credit  the  catholic  writers,  Jerome  at  first  dis- 
pla3'ed  less  magnanimity  tlian  his  friend  Huss.  The  dread 
of  suffering  intimidated  him,  and  he  showed  a  disposition 
to  concede  his  opinions  to  his  Catliolic  interrogators,  who 
perceiving  symptoms  of  this  compliant  temper  about  him, 
craftily  availed  themselves  of  it,  and  by  procrastinating  his 
trial  from  month  to  month,  they  hoped  ultimately  to  re- 
cover him  from  his  heresy.  In  this,  however,  they  were 
disappointed.  His  mind  gradually  resumed  all  its  wonted 
vigour  ;  and  instead  of  A'ielding  his  principles  to  his  perse- 
cutors, he  avowed  them  in  the  boldest  manner,  and  sup- 
ported them  with  increasing  confidence  to  the  last.  Pog- 
gio Bracciolini,  the  Florentine  secretary,  who  attended  the 
council,  and  was  a  spectator  of  all  he  relates,  gave  a  pretty 
circumstantial  account  of  the  whole  of  this  tragical  affair, 
in  a  letter  to  his  friend  Aretin,  the  Pope's  secretary,  and  it 
is  too  interesting  to  be  omitted. 

Letter  from  Poggio  of  Florence  to  Leonard  Aretin. 

"  In  the  midst  of  a  short  excursion  into  the  country,  I 
wrote  to  our  common  friend ;  from  whom,  I  doubt  not,  you 
have  had  an  account  of  me. 

"Since  my  return  to  Constance,  my  attention  has  been 
wholly  engaged  by  Jerome,  the  Bohemian  heretic,  as  he  is 
called.  The  eloquence  and  learning,  which  this  person  has 
employed  in  1  *iS  own  defence,  are  so  extraordinary,  that  I 
cannot  forbear  giving  you  a  short  account  of  him. 

Vol.  II.  2  B 


182  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [ch.  r. 

"  To  confess  the  truth,  I  never  knew  the  art  of  speaking 
carried  so  near  the  model  of  ancient  eloquence.  It  was, 
indeed,  amazing  to  hear  with  what  force  of  expression, 
with  what  fluency  of  language,  and  with  what  excellent 
reasoning,  he  answered  his  adversaries  :  nor  was  I  less 
struck  with  the  gracefulness  of  his  manner,  the  dignity  of 
his  action,  and  the  firmness  and  constancy  of  his  whole  be- 
haviour. It  grieved  me  to  think  so  great  a  man  was  la- 
bouring under  so  atrocious  an  accusation.  Whether  this 
accusation  be  a  just  one,  God  knows:  for  myself,  I  inquire 
not  into  the  merits  of  it;  resting  satisfied  with  the  decision 
of  my  superiors.  But  I  will  just  give  you  a  summary  of 
his  trial. 

"  After  many  articles  had  been  proved  against  him,  leave 
was  at  length  given  him  to  answer  each  in  its  order.  But 
Jerome  long  refused,  strenuously  contending  that  he  had 
many  things  to  say  previously  in  his  defence;  and  that  he 
ought  first  to  be  heard  in  general,  before  he  descended  to 
particulars.  When  this  was  overruled,  'Here,'  said  he, 
standing  in  the  midst  of  the  assembly,  'here  is  justice — 
here  is  equity  !  Beset  by  my  enemies,  I  am  already  pro- 
nounced a  heretic  ;  I  am  condemned  before  I  am  examined. 
Were  you  Gods  omniscient,  instead  of  an  assembly  of  falli- 
ble men,  you  could  not  act  with  more  sufficiency.  Error 
is  the  lot  of  mortals  ;  and  you,  exalted  as  you  are,  are  sub- 
ject to  it.  But  consider,  that  the  higher  you  are  exalted, 
of  the  more  dangerous  consequence  are  your  errors.  As 
for  me,  I  know  I  am  a  wretch  below  your  notice  :  but  at 
least  consider,  that  an  unjust  action,  in  such  an  assembly, 
will  be  of  dangerous  example.' 

"  This,  and  much  more,  he  spoke  with  great  elegance  of 
language,  in  the  midst  of  a  very  unruly  and  indecent  as- 
sembly :  and  thus  far,  at  least,  he  prevailed ;  the  council 
ordered,  that  he  should  first  answer  objections,  and  pro- 
mised that  he  should  then  have  liberty  to  speak.  Accord- 
ingly all  the  articles  alleged  against  him  were  publicly  read, 


SECT.  VIII.]    Poggioi's  account  of  Jerome's  trial.  1S3 

and  then  proved ;  after  which  he  was  asked,  wliether  he 
had  aught  to  object  ?  It  is  incredible  with  what  acuteness 
he  answered ;  and  with  what  amazing  dexterity  he  w  arded 
off  every  stroke  of  his  adversaries.  Nothing  escaped  him  : 
his  whole  behaviour  was  truly  great  and  pious.  If  he  were, 
indeed,  the  man  his  defence  spoke  him,  he  was  so  far  from 
meriting  death,  that,  in  my  judgment,  he  was  not  in  an}' 
degree  cul})able.  In  a  w  ord,  lie  endeavoured  to  prove, 
that  the  greater  part  of  the  charges  were  purely  the  inven- 
tion of  his  adversaries.  Among  other  things,  being  ac- 
cused of  hating  and  defaming  the  holy  see,  the  pope,  the 
cardinals,  the  prelates,  and  the  whole  estate  of  the  clergy, 
he  stretched  out  his  hands,  and  said,  in  a  most  moving  ac- 
cent, '  On  which  side,  reverend  fathers,  shall  1  turn  me  for 
redress  ?  whom  shall  I  implore  ^  whose  assistance  can  I 
expect?  which  of  you  hath  not  this  malicious  charge  en- 
tirely alienated  from  me  ?  which  of  you  hath  it  not  changed 
from  a  judge  into  an  inveterate  enemy  ?  It  was  artfully 
alleged  indeed!  Though  other  parts  of  their  charge  were 
of  less  moment,  my  accusers  might  well  imagine,  that  if 
this  were  fastened  on  me,  it  could  not  fail  of  drawing  upon 
me  the  united  indignation  of  my  judges.' 

"On  the  third  day  of  this  memorable  trial,  what  had 
passed  was  recapitulated  :  when  Jerome,  having  obtained 
leave,  though  with  some  difficulty,  to  speak,  began  his  ora- 
tion w\i\\  a  prayer  to  God ;  whose  assistance  he  pathetically 
implored.  He  then  observed,  that  many  excellent  men,  in 
the  annals  of  history,  had  been  oppressed  by  false  witnesses 
and  condemned  by  unjust  judges.  Beginning  widi  pro- 
fane history,  he  instanced  the  death  of  Socrates,  the  ca])ti- 
vity  of  Plato,  the  banishment  of  Anaxagoras,  and  the  unjust 
sufferings  of  many  others  :  he  then  instanced  the  many 
worthies  of  the  Old  Testament,  in  the  same  circumstances 
— Moses,  Joshua,  Daniel,  and  almost  all  the  prophets  ;  and 
lastly,  those  of  the  New — John  the  Baptist,  St.  Stephen, 
and  others,  who  were  condemned  as  seditious,  profane,  or 
immoral  men.  An  unjust  judgment,  he  said,  proceeding 
from  a  laic,  was  bad ;  from  a  priest,  worse ;  still  worse 


184  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [ch.  v, 

from  a  coJlege  of  priesis;  and  from  a  general  council,  su- 
perlatively bad.  These  things  he  spoke  with  such  force 
and  emphasis,  as  kept  every  one's  attention  awake. 

"  On  one  point  he  dwelt  largely.  As  the  merits  of  the 
cause  rested  entirely  upon  the  credit  of  witnesses,  he  took 
great  pains  to  show,  that  very  liule  was  due  to  those  pro- 
duced against  him.  He  had  many  objections  to  them, 
particularly  their  avowed  hatred  to  him ;  the  sources  of 
which  he  so  palpably  laid  open,  that  he  made  a  strong  im- 
pression upon  the  minds  of  his  hearers,  and  not  a  little 
shook  the  credit  of  the  witnesses.  The  whole  council  was 
moved,  and  greatly  inclined  to  pity,  if  not  to  favour  him» 
He  added,  that  he  came  uncompelled  to  the  council ;  and 
that  neither  his  life  nor  doctrine  had  been  such,  as  gave 
him  great  reason  to  dread  an  appearance  before  them. 
Diflerence  of  opinion,  he  said,  in  matters  of  faith,  had  ever 
su'isen  among  learned  men,  and  was  always  esteemed  pro- 
ductive of  truth,  rather  than  of  error,  where  bigotry  was 
laid  aside.  Such,  he  said,  was  the  difference  between  Aus- 
tin and  Jerome  :  and  though  their  opinions  were  not  only 
different,  but  contradictory,  yet  the  imputation  of  heresy 
was  never  fixed  on  either. 

"  Every  one  expected,  that  he  would  now  either  retract 
his  errors,  or  at  least  apologize  for  them ;  but  nothing  of 
the  kind  was  heard  from  him :  he  declared  plainly,  that  he 
had  nothing  to  retract.  He  launched  out  into  a  high  en- 
comium of  Huss,  calling  him  a  holy  man,  and  lamenting 
his  cruel  and  unjust  death.  He  had  armed  himself,  he 
said,  with  a  full  resolution  to  follow  the  steps  of  that  bless- 
ed martyr,  and  to  suffer  with  constancy  whatever  the  ma- 
lice of  his  enemies  could  inflict.  'The  perjured  witnesses,' 
said  he,  'who  have  appeared  against  me,  have  won  their 
cause  :  but  let  them  remember,  they  have  their  evidence 
once  more  to  give,  before  a  tribunal  where  falsehood  can 
be  no  disguise.' 

"It  was  impossible  to  hear  this  pathetic  speaker  without 
emotion.  Every  ear  was  captivated,  and  every  heart 
touched.     But  wishes  in  his  favour  were  vain;  he  threw 


SECT.  VIII.]    Jerome^s  conduct  before  the  Council.  185 

himself  beyond  a  possibility  of  mercy.  Braving  death,  he 
even  provoked  the  vengeance  which  was  hanging  over  him. 
'  If  that  holy  martyr,'  said  he,  speaking  of  Huss,  '  used 
the  clergy  with  disrespect,  his  censures  were  not  levelled 
at  them  as  priests,  but  as  wicked  men.  He  saw  with  in- 
dignation those  revenues,  which  had  been  designed  for 
charitable  ends,  expended  upon  pageantry  and  riot.' 

"Through  this  wliole  oration  he  showed  a  most  amazing 
strength  of  menjory.  He  had  been  confined  almost  a  year 
m  a  dungeon :  the  severity  of  which  usage  he  complained 
of,  but  in  the  language  of  a  great  and  good  man.  In  this 
horrid  place  he  was  deprived  of  books  and  paper.  Yet, 
notwithstanding  this,  and  the  constant  anxiety  whicl;  must 
have  hung  over  him,  he  was  at  no  more  loss  for  proper 
authorities  and  quotations,  than  if  he  had  spent  the  inter- 
mediate time  at  leisure  in  his  study. 

"  His  voice  was  sweet,  distinct,  and  full ;  his  action  every 
way  the  most  proper,  either  to  express  indignation,  or  to 
raise  pity;  though  he  made  no  aflected  application  to  the 
passions  of  his  audience.  Firm  and  intrepid,  he  stood 
before  the  council,  collected  in  himself;  and  not  only  con- 
temning, but  seeming  even  desirous  of  death.  The  greatest 
character  in  ancient  story  could  not  possibly  go  be^^ond 
him.  If  there  is  any  justice  in  history,  this  man  will  be 
admired  by  all  posterity.  I  speak  not  of  his  errors:  let 
these  rest  with  him.  What  I  admired  was  his  learning, 
his  eloquence,  and  amazing  acuteness.  God  knows  whether 
these  things  were  not  the  groundwork  of  his  ruin. 

"Two  days  were  allowed  him  for  reflection;  during- 
which  time  many  persons  of  consequence,  and  particularly 
my  lord  cardinal  of  Florence,  endeavoured  to  bring  him  to 
a  better  mind.  But  persisting  obstinately  in  his  errors,  he 
was  condemned  as  a  heretic. 

"With  a  cheerful  countenance,  and  more  than  stoical 
constancy,  he  met  his  fate;  fearing  neither  death  itself, 
nor  the  horrible  form  in  whicii  it  appeared.  When  he 
came  to  the  place,  he  pulled  off  his  upper  garment,  and 


186  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [ch.  v. 

made  a  short  prayer  at  the  stake;  to  which  he  was  soon 
after  bound,  with  wet  cords  and  an  iron  chain,  and  inclosed 
as  high  as  his  breast  in  faggots. 

"  Observing  the  executioner  about  to  set  fire  to  the  wood 
behind  his  back,  he  cried  out,  'Bring  thy  torch  hither. 
Perforin  thy  office  before  my  face.  Had  1  feared  death,  I 
might  have  avoided  it.' 

"As  the  wood  began  to  blaze,  he  sang  a  hymn,  which 
the  violence  of  the  flame  scarce  interrupted. 

"Thus  died  this  prodigious  man.  The  epithet  is  not 
extravagant.  I  was  myself  an  eyewitness  of  his  whole 
behaviour.  Whatever  his  life  may  have  been,  his  death, 
witliout  doubt,  is  a  noble  lesson  of  philosophy. 

"But  it  is  time  to  finish  this  long  epistle.  You  will  say 
I  have  had  some  leisure  upon  my  hands;  and,  to  say  the 
truth,  I  have  not  much  to  do  here.  This  will,  I  hope, 
convince  you,  that  greatness  is  not  wholly  confined  to 
antiquity.  You  will  think  me,  perhaps,  tedious;  but  I 
could  have  been  more  prolix  on  a  subject  so  copious. — 
Farewell,  my  dear  Leonard." 

Constance,  May  20. 

The  news  of  these  barbarous  executions  quickly  reached 
Bohemia,  where  it  threw  the  whole  kingdom  into  confu- 
sion, and  a  civil  war  was  kindled  from  the  ashes  of  the 
martyrs.  As  to  Winceslaus,  the  king,  he  was  seldom 
sober,  and  paid  no  regard  to  the  condition  of  his  subjects. 
The  nobility  were  divided  into  factions ;  some  zealous  to 
resent  the  insults  that  had  been  ofl'ered  to  the  nation  by 
the  proceedings  at  Constance,  and  to  repel  the  forces  that 
had  been  introduced  into  the  kingdom  by  the  audiority  of 
the  Pope,  with  a  view  to  the  suppression  of  heresy  in  Bohe- 
mia, and  to  compel  that  fierce  nation  to  establish  unifor- 
mity in  religion.  Sigisnmnd,  the  emperor,  had  many  re- 
spectable qualities;  but  he  had  lent  himself  wholly  to  the 
papacy  at  the  council,  and  in  consequence  of  the  disgust 
which  his  conduct  had  excited,  the  Bohemians  revolted. 


SECT.  VIII.]  Proceedings  in  Bohemia.  187 

and  under  the  banner  of  a  very  intrepid  leader,  John  Ziska, 
defended  their  opinions  not  only  with  arguments  but  with 
arms  also.  At  first  the  populace  were  only  a  harmless  in- 
quisitive staring  multitude;  but  as  the  Catholic  priests  pro- 
ceeded to  publish  in  the  churches,  bulls  from  the  Pope, 
exhorting  all  kings,  princes,  dukes,  lords,  citizens,  and 
others,  to  take  up  arms  against  heresy,  conjuring  them  by 
the  wounds  of  Christ  to  extirpate  heretics,  and  promising 
the  forgiveness  of  all  sins  to  any  person  who  should  kill  a 
Bohemian  heretic,  the  people  seceded  in  great  multitudes, 
retired  to  the  distance  of  about  five  miles  from  Prague, 
where  they  held  meetings  for  public  worship,  elected  their 
own  teachers,  and  had  the  Lord's  supper  administered  to 
them  at  three  hundred  tables,  formed  by  laying  boards 
upon  casks,  the  number  of  communicants  amounting  to 
forty  thousand. 

Their  leader,  John  Ziska,  was  of  a  noble  family,  brought 
up  at  court,  and  in  high  reputation  for  wisdom,  courage, 
the  love  of  his  country,  and  the  fear  of  God.  Fugitives 
daily  resorted  to  him  from  all  parts,  and  put  themselves 
under  his  protection.  At  one  time  four  hundred  poor  meb, 
who  had  lived  in  the  mountains  for  the  sake  of  enjoying 
religious  liberty,  came  down  to  Prague,  with  their  wives 
and  children,  and  ranged  themselves  under  the  banners  of 
Ziska.  It  is  highly  probable  that  these  were  Waldenses, 
the  descendants  of  those  who  had  settled  in  i-emote  parts  of 
the  kingdom  more  than  two  hundred  and  fifty  years  before. 
Freedom  from  the  Austrian  yoke,  deliverance  from  the 
tyranny  of  Rome,  and  the  full  enjoyment  of  civil  and  re- 
ligious liberty,  were  the  objects  for  which  Ziska  avowedly 
contended,  and  his  army  presently  consisted  of  forty  thou- 
sand men. 

jEneas  Sylvius,  who  afterwards  ascended  the  pontifical 
chair  under  the  title  of  Pius  II.,  had  travelled  over  the 
whole  empire;  and  by  him  we  are  informed  that  the 
churches  and  religious  houses  in  Bohemia,  were  more  nu- 
merous, more  spacious,  more  elegant  and  sumptuous  than 


188  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [ch.  r. 

in  any  other  part  of  Europe;  and  that  the  images  in  pub- 
lic places,  and  the  habits  of  the  priests,  were  covered  with 
jewels  and  precious  stones.  Ziska  commenced  his  work  of 
reform  with  attacking  these.  He  demolished  the  images, 
discharged  the  monks,  who,  he  said,  were  only  fatting  like 
swine  in  sties,  converted  cloisters  into  barracks,  conquered 
several  towns,  and  garrisoned  Cuthna,  defeated  the  armies 
of  the  emperor  in  several  battles,  and  gave  law  to  the 
kingdom  of  Bohemia  till  the  time  of  his  death,  which  hap- 
pened in  1424.  He  encamped  his  followers  on  a  rocky 
mountain  about  ten  miles  from  Prague,  which  he  soon 
after  fortified  with  a  wall,  and  within  that  the  people  built 
houses.  This  mountain  he  called  Tabor  (after  mount  Ta- 
bor in  the  holy  land)  -ind  thence  his  followers  obtained  the 
name  of  Taborites. 

When  Ziska  found  himself  dying  he  gave  orders  that  a 
drum  should  be  made  of  his  skin;  and  what  is  equally  ex- 
traordinary, his  orders  were  faithfully  obeyed.  Ziska's 
skin,  after  undergoing  the  necessary  preparations,  was  con- 
verted into  a  drum,  which  was  long  the  symbol  of  victory 
to  his  followers.  Procopius,  a  Catholic  priest,  converted 
by  the  writings  of  one  of  the  disciples  of  Huss,  revived  the 
spirits  of  the  Bohemian  brethren,  many  of  whom  after  the 
death  of  Ziska,  had  retreated  to  caves  and  mountains. 
Uniting  the  military  with  the  sacerdotal  character,  this 
champion  supported  the  cause  of  his  party  with  great 
courage  and  bravery,  but  fell  in  a  battle  with  the  Catholics. 
Yet  so  terrible  had  the  name  of  the  Hussites  become  to 
the  Emperor  Sigismund  that,  despairing  to  reduce  them  by 
the  power  of  his  arms,  he  entered  into  a  compromise,  al- 
lowing them  the  use  of  the  cup  in  the  eucharist,  the  depri- 
vation of  which  had  been  a  principal  source  of  complaint; 
together  with  a  general  amnesty,  and  a  confirmation  of 
their  privileges.  But  verbal  and  even  written  promises 
are  easily  retracted,  where  there  exists  no  power  of  enforcing 
their  accomplishment;  and  a  right  avails  nothing  without 
a  remedy.     The  dispersed  brethren  ceased  to  be  formidable. 


SECT*' VIII.]      Origin  of  the  United  Brethren.  189 

Sigismund  renewed  his  tyranny.  His  immediate  succes- 
sors on  the  imperial  throne  were,  Hke  himself,  y.ealous 
CathoHcs,  and  the  friends  and  followers  of  Huss  continued 
to  be  the  subjects  of  frequent  persecution  till  the  times  of 
Luther. 

Crantz,  in  his  history  of  the  Bohemian  brethren  informs 
us,  that  after  the  death  of  Ziska,  his  followers  divided 
themselves  again,  according  to  .the  diversity  of  their  opi- 
nions and  views,  into  Calixtines,  Taborites,  and  Orphans  ; 
while,  such  as,  with  a  distinguished  zeal,  urged  an  entire 
reformation  were  termed  Zealots.  In  times  of  distress, 
however,  they  all  uuited  against  their  common  enemy  ;  and 
the  latter,  unable  to  carry  the  point  against  them,  granted 
to  their  deputies,  at  the  council  of  Basil,  in  1433,  the  terms 
contained  in  the  following  four  articles,  which  goes  by  the 
name  of  The  Buhemian  Comp-tctata,  or  terms  of  agreement. 
1 .  That  the  word  of  God  shall  be  freely  preached  by  able 
ministers,  according  to  the  Holy  Scriptures,  without  any 
human  invention.  2.  That  the  Lord's  Supper  shall  be  ad- 
ministered unto  mH  in  both  kinds,  and  divine  worship  per- 
formed in  the  mother  tongue.  3.  That  open  sins  shall  be 
openly  punished,  according  to  the  law  of  God,  without  re- 
spect of  persons.  4.  That  the  clergy  shall  exercise  no 
worldly  dominion,  but  confine  themselves  to  preaching  the 
gospel.* 

But  notwithstanding  these  concessions,  it  appears  evi- 
dent that  matters  remained  in  a  very  unsettled  state  among 
the  Bohemians  about  the  middle  of  the  century.  The 
leading  person  in  ecclesiastical  affairs  was  Rokyzan,  arch- 
bishop of  Prague,  a  man  of  no  principle  whatever.  The 
contentions  of  parties  ran  high ;  and  this  metropolitan, 
wearied  with  perpetual  applications  for  reformation,  which 
he  found  it  quite  impracticable  to  carry  into  effect,  at 
length  advised  surh  as  were  dissatisfied  with  the  existing 
order  of  things  to  retire  to  the  lordship  of  Lititz,  between 

*  Crantz 's  History,  p.  19. 
Vol.  II.  2  C 


190  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [ch.  v. 

Silesia  and  Moravia,  about  twenty  miles  from  Prague ; — a 
place  which  had  been  laid  waste  by  the  ravages  of  war, 
where  they  might  establish  their  own  regulations  respecting 
divine  worship,  choose  their  own  ministers,  and  introduce 
their  own  discipline  and  order,  according  to  their  own  con- 
science and  judgment.  Numbers  adopted  his  suggestion, 
and  in  1457  they  formed  themselves  into  a  society  bearing 
the  name  of  the  Unitas  Fratrum,  or  United  Brethren, 
binding  themselves  at  the  same  time  to  a  rigorous  church 
discipline,  and  resolving  to  sufl'er  all  things  for  conscience' 
sake  ;  and,  instead  of  defending  themselves  as  the  Taborites 
had  done,  by  force  of  arms,  their  only  weapons  were  to  be 
prater  and  reasonable  remonstrance  against  the  rage  of 
their  enemies.* 

It  is  highly  probable  that  when  the  archbishop  offered 
them  this  indulgence,  he  had  little  expectation  that  they 
would  be  able  to  carry  the  project  into  effect ;  it  was  mere- 
ly an  alternative  which  relieved  him  from  a  momentar}' 
embarrassment,  and  probably  that  was  all  he  was  concerned 
about ;  but  if  so,  he  found  himself  disappointed.  Three 
years  had  not  elapsed  ere  their  numbers  were  considerable  ; 
pious  persons  flocked  to  them,  not  only  from  different  part? 
of  Bohemia,  but  even  from  every  distant  quarter  of  the 
whole  empire  ;  and  churches  were  gathered  every  where 
throughout  Bohemia  and  Moravia.  Many  of  the  ancient 
Waldenses,  who  had  been  lurking  about  in  dens  and  caves 
of  the  earth,  as  well  as  upon  the  tops  of  mountains,  now 
came  forward  with  alacrity,  and  joining  themselves  to  the 
"  United  Brethren,"  became  eminently  serviceable  to  the 
newly-formed  societies,  in  consequence  of  their  more  ad- 
vanced state  of  religious  knowledge  and  experience.  Many 
of  the  new  converts  renounced  the  baptism  of  infants,  and 
were  baptized  by  the  pastors  before  they  received  them 
into  church  communion. f 

*  Crantz'S  History,  pprt  II.  p.  23. 

I  CoMENii  Synopsis  Hist.  Persecutionum  Eccles.  Bohem.  cap.  18. 
nnd  CAMERi\uius  de  ecclesiis  fratrum  narratio,  p.  87. 


SECT.  VIII.]     Bohemian  Brethren  persecuted.  191 

The  archbishop  had  not  foreseen  the  consequences  of 
settlini^  these  people  on  the  crown  lands.  The  multipli- 
cation of  their  numbers,  and  their  5z:ro\ving  influence,  soon 
drew  upon  them  tlie  attention,  and  excited  the  rancour  of 
the  Cathohc  party.  A  clamour  against  him  ensued  ;  and 
the  Waldenses,  Picards,  and  otiier  opprobrious  names,  by 
which  they  were  stigmatized,  became  too  numerous  and 
too  scandalous  for  an  archbishop  to  patronize  ;  he  therefore 
found  it  necessary  to  treat  them  with  indifference  and  keep 
them  at  a  distance.  Scarcely  had  three  years  transpired 
from  the  establishment  of  the  society  of  "  The  United  Bre- 
thren," when  a  terrible  persecution  arose  against  them  in 
Boliemia  and  Moravia,  and  they  were  called  to  prove 
"what  manner  of  spirit  they  were  of."  They  were  de- 
clared by  the  State  unworthy  of  the  common  rights  of 
subjects  ;  and,  in  the  depth  of  winter,  expelled  from  their 
houses  in  towns  and  villages,  with  the  forfeiture  of  all  their 
goods.  Even  the  sick  were  cast  into  the  open  fields, 
where  numbers  perished  through  cold  and  hunger.  They 
threw  them  into  prisons,  with  a  view  to  extort  from  them, 
by  means  of  the  severity' of  their  sufferings,  a  confession  of 
seditious  designs,  and  an  impeachment  of  their  accompli- 
ces :  and  when  nothing  could  be  extorted  from  them,  they 
were  maimed  in  their  hands  and  feet,  inhumanly  dragged 
at  the  tails  of  horses  and  carts,  and  quartered  or  burnt 
alive.  During  this  persecution,  those  who  had  it  in  their 
power  to  do  so,  retired  into  woods,  fortresses,  and  caves  of 


"IsthaRC  rebaptisatio,  jam  dictis  tot  causis  usurpata  et  Introtluc- 
ta  a  nostris,  dnravit  in  ecclesia  nostra  ad  ba?c  iisqiie  tempora." 
.^polog^ia  venn  cloctrince  eorum  qui  vuli^o  appeVantur  Waldenses  et  Pi- 
cardi.     D.  G.  M.  Urandebar,  Anno  I.'j3'2.     Par.  iv.  de  Baptismo. 

"  Initio  crcscciite  in  ctetu  mnltitudinum  hoininurn,  et  ex  diversarum 
relig'ionum  professionibus  accedento,  si  cpiis  forte  de  veritate  baptismi 
christiani  diibitarcnt,  etanimo  suo  ang;erentiir,  et  conscientiam  habe- 
rent  malatn,  eos  expetantes  hoc  curaruul  deniio  baptizaiidos,  exig-endo 
et  sinceroe  lida^-i  confessionem  et  promissionem  de  observalionc  disci- 
plina3  et  vitae  sanctitiite.  Qiicm  ronJittmU  promittendiqae  murem  prisoi 
ecclesia  relig^iosissime  lennil.      C  arikrarius.  ubi  supra. 


192  History  of  the  Chrutian  Church.  [ch.  v, 

the  earth,  where  they  held  their  rehgious  assemblies,  elect- 
ed their  own  teachers,  and  endeavoured  to  strengthen  and 
edify  one  another.  The  parent  society  at  Lltitz,  being  less 
molested  than  those  in  other  places,  did  not  cease  to  send 
messengers  and  letters  to  their  persecuted  brethren,  with 
the  view  of  strengthening  their  faith  and  exhorting  them  to 
patience.  In  process  of  time  the  stoim  subsided,  though 
not  until  nearly  every  society  of  the  Brethren  in  Bohemia 
was  scattered  or  dispersed,  and  both  the  king  and  archbi- 
shop were  removed  from  the  stage  of  life.* 

Uladislaus,  prince  of  Poland,  was  now  elected  to  the 
crown  of  Bohemia,  and  being  a  mild  and  tolerant  prince, 
little  inclined  to  persecution,  the  exiled  brethren  returned 
to  their  own  homes,  and  resumed  their  occupations.  Under 
this  amiable  monarch  they  cultivated  their  lands,  applied 
themselves  to  literature,  and  for  some  years  enjoyed  pros- 
perity as  well  as  peace.  According  to  the  testimony  of 
one  of  their  bitter  enemies,  "They  took  such  deep  root, 
and  extended  their  branches  so  far  and  wide,  that  it  was 
impossible  to  extirpate  them."  In  the  year  1500,  there 
were  two  hundred  congregations  of  the  United  Brethren 
in  Bohemia  and  Moravia.  Many  counts,  barons,  and 
noblemen  joined  their  churches,  who  built  them  meeting- 
houses in  their  cities  and  villages.  They  got  the  Bible 
translated  into  the  Bohemian  tongue,  and  printed  at  Venice: 
when  that  edition  was  disposed  of,  they  got  two  more 
printed  at  Nuremberg,  and  finding  the  demand  for  the 
Hoi}'  Scriptures  continuing  to  increase,  they  established 
a  printing  oflice  at  Prague,  another  at  Bunzlau  in  Bohemia, 
and  a  third  at  Kralitz  in  Moravia,  where  at  first  they 
printed  nothing  but  Bohemian  Bibles. 

Although  the  King  of  Bohemia  was  extremely  anxious 
to  preserve  peace  and  harmony  among  his  subjects,  whether 
Catholics,  Calixtines,  or  the  United  Brethren,  he  found  it 
no  easy  task  to  accomplish  his  wishes    in   that    respect. 

*  Robinson's  Eccles.  Researches,  p.  5U1. 


SECT.  VIII.]      Bohemian  brethren  persecuted.  193 

"  Every  morning  when  he  rose,"  says  a  late  writer,  "  and 
every  evening  when  he  retired  to  rest,  he  put  up  this 
petition  to  God,  'Give  peace  in  my  time,  O  Lord!'  A 
prayer  worthy  of  a  king,  but  Uladislaus  did  not  know  that 
to  attain  the  object  of  his  prayer  he  ought  to  discharge 
his  chaplains,"  The  clergy  were  perpetually  teazing  him 
for  an  edict  against  the  heretics,  and  poisoning  his  mind 
with  false  representations  of  their  sentiments  and  conduct; 
and  they,  at  length,  succeeded  in  obtaining  a  severe  edict 
against  them.  The  Brethren  immediately  drew  up  an 
Apology,  which  they  presented  to  the  king;  and  he,  with 
his  usual  lenity,  ordered  his  clergy  to  converse  with  the 
Picards,  and  endeavour  to  reclaim  them  by  reason;  but 
by  all  means  to  maintain  peace  among  themselves.  An 
order  was  consequently  issued,  requiring  the  principal 
ministers  of  the  Brethren  in  Prague  to  hold  a  conference, 
on  an  appointed  day,  with  some  of  the  Catholic  clergy; 
but  early  on  the  morning  of  that  day,  Martin  Poczatecius, 
the  principal  enemy  of  the  Brethren,  died  suddenly,  and 
the  conference  was  postponed. 

As  the  king  was  understood  to  be  tolerant  in  his  princi- 
ples, the  BreJiren  thought  that  a  confession  of  their  faith 
might  probably  produce  some  good,  and  they  accordingly 
drew  one  up  and  sent  it  to  his  majesty,  who  was  then  in 
Hungary.  It  did  not,  however,  answer  the  end  at  court; 
for  the  Catholic  bishops  had  recourse  to  a  stratagem  which 
unhappily  succeeded  to  their  wishes.  The  king  was  pas- 
sionately fond  of  his  queen,  who  was  at  this  time  in  an 
advanced  state  of  pregnancy ;  and  the  bishops  and  prelates 
having  a  great  ascendancy  over  the  queen,  they,  therefore, 
most  humbly  and  earnestly  entreated  her  to  obtain  from 
the  king  an  edict  to  suppress  the  Picards,  for  they  assured 
themselves  that,  at  such  a  time,  he  would  not  deny  her 
majesty  any  request,  or  occasion  her  a  moment's  pain. 
The  king  one  day  entering  her  apartment,  the  queen  mildly 
asked  the  favour.  The  monarch  looked  sad  and  sorrowful, 
but  remained  silent.     Bossack,  a  Hungarian  bishop,  began 


194  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [ch.  v. 

instantly  to  write  in  tlie  king's  presence;  and  the  edict  was 
soon  prepared  and  signed.  The  moment,  however,  that 
the  humane  monarch  had  put  his  name  to  the  instrument, 
he  quitted  the  room,  retired  to  his  closet,  fell  on  his  knees, 
burst  into  tears,  and  besought  the  Almighty  to  forgive  him, 
and  to  frustate  the  sanguinary  purposes  of  these  bishops 
against  innocent  men.  At  first  tlie  States  would  not  allow 
this  edict  the  force  of  law ;  so  jealous  were  the  Bohemians 
of  their  liberties;  and  it  took  four  years  to  bring  them  to 
consent  to  a  statute  which  prohibited  the  "United  Brethren" 
from  holding  any  religious  assemblies,  public  or  private; 
commanded  that  their  meeting-houses  should  all  be  shut 
up;  that  they  should  not  be  allowed  either  to  preach  or 
print;  and  that  within  a  given  time  they  should  all  hold 
religious  communion  with  either  the  Calixtines  or  the 
Cathohcs. 

Although  the  Catholic  party  had  so  far  succeeded  as  to 
obtain  this  persecuting  edict,  they  did  not  immediately  reap 
from  it  all  the  happy  fruits  that  they  expected.  The  Bo- 
hemians were  a  bold  and  intrepid  race  of  men,  and  not 
easil}'  daunted.  The  king,  and  wiser  part  of  the  magis- 
trates, did  not  go  heartily  into  the  clerical  measures  of 
depopulation  and  destruction;  and  though  the  dominant 
party  were  so  strong  that  the  king  durst  not  openly  pro- 
tect the  Brethren,  lie  was  obliged  to  wink  at  the  cruel  use 
that  was  made  of  this  persecuting  statute  by  some  bigoted 
magistrates;  but,  upon  the  whole,  the  pacific  inclination 
of  the  court  was  generally  understood,  and  people  acted 
accordingly.  Some  emigrated;  others  retired  and  wor- 
shipped God  as  formerly,  in  remote  places  and  in  small 
conipanies;  some  ran  all  risks,  and  many  fell  into  the 
hands  of  their  enemies  and  were  punished.  A  Bohemian 
.nobleman  caught  six  poor  men  at  their  devotions,  in  a 
small  village;  he  accordingly  had  them  taken  up  and 
brougiit  before  the  parish-priest  to  be  examined.  The 
latter  asked  but  one  question,  namely,  whether  they  would 
submit  to  him  as  a  shepherd  of  souls?    they  answered  to 


SECT.  VIII.]  Lmther's  advice  to  the  Bohemian  Brethren.    195 

this,  that  "Christ  was  the  shepherd  of  their  souls" — upon 
which  they  were  convicted  on  the  statute  against  here;;y, 
made  in  the  twentieth  year  of  their  sovereign  lord  the 
king,  and  instantly  committed  to  the  flames.  This  is  a  fair 
specimen  of  their  proceedings,  and  it  is  needless  to  enlarge 
or  multiply  instances. 

In  this  manner  the  affairs  of  the  Brethren  proceeded, 
until  Luther  began  the  reformation  in  Germany;  at  which 
time  it  would  appear,  that  a  continued  series  of  persecu- 
tions had  wasted  the  churches,  and  nearly  exhausted  the 
survivors  of  their  fortitude  and  patience;  insomuch  that 
tlie  Brethren  appear  to  have  been  meditating  a  comprouilse 
with  the  Catholic  church,  under  certain  modifications;  and 
actually  wrote  to  Luther  for  his  advice  on  the  subject,  in 
the  year  1522.  Sleiclan  has  furnished  us  with  the  substance 
of  the  letter  which  Luther  returned  in  reply,  and  it  is  of 
sufficient  interest  to  merit  insertion. 

He  informs  them  that  the  name  of  Bohemians  had  been 
some  time  very  odious  unto  him,  so  long  as  he  had  been 
ignorant  that  the  Pope  was  Antichrist :  but  that  now,  since 
God  had  restored  the  light  of  the  Gospel  to  the  world,  he 
was  of  a  far  different  opinion,  and  had  declared  as  much 
in  his  books;  so  that  at  present  the  Pope  and  his  party 
were  more  incensed  against  him  than  against  them;  that 
his  adversaries  had  many  times  given  it  out,  that  he  had 
removed  into  Boheaiia,  wliich  he  oftentimes  wished  to  have 
done;  but  that  lest  they  should  have  aspersed  his  progress, 
and  called  it  a  fligiit,  he  had  altered  his  resohition.  That, 
as  matters  now  stood,  there  were  great  iiopes  that  tiie  Ger- 
mans and  Bohemians  might  profess  the  doctrine  of  the 
gospel,  and  the  same  religion;  that  it  was  not  without 
reason  that  many  were  grieved  to  see  them  so  divided  into 
sects  among  themselves;  but  that  if  they  should  agaiji  make 
defection  to  popery,  sects  would  not  only  not  be  removed, 
but  even  be  increased  and  more  diffused,  for  that  sects 
abounded  no  where  more  than  among  the  Ronianiits;  and 
tl)at  the  Franciscruis  alone  were  an  instance  of  this,  who  in 
many  things  differed  among  themselves,    and  yet  ail  lived 


196  History  of  the  Christian  Church.         [ch.  v. 

under  the  patronage  and  protection  of  the  church  of  Rome. 
That  his  kingdom  was,  in  some  manner,  maintained  and 
supported  by  the  dissensions  of  men;  which  was  the  reason 
also  that  made  him  set  princes  together  by  the  ears,  and 
afford  continual  matter  of  quarrelling  and  contention; 
that,  therefore,  they  should  have  special  care,  lest  whilst 
they  endeavour  to  crush  those  smaller  sects,  they  fell  not 
into  far  greater,  such  as  the  popish,  which  were  altogether 
incurable,  and  from  which  Germany  had  been  lately  de- 
livered. That  there  was  no  better  way  of  removing  incon- 
veniences, than  for  the  pastors  of  the  churches  to  preach  the 
pure  word  of  God  in  sincerity.  That  if  they  could  not 
retain  the  weak  and  giddy  people  in  their  duty,  and  hinder 
their  desertion,  they  should  at  least  endeavour  to  make 
them  steadfast  in  receiving  the  Lord's  Supper  in  both  kinds, 
and  in  preserving  a  veneration  for  the  memory  of  John 
Huss  and  Jerome  of  Prague;  for  that  the  Pope  would  la- 
bour chiefly  to  deprive  them  of  these  two  things;  where- 
fore, if  any  of  them  should  relent,  and  give  up  both  to  the 
tyrant,  it  would  be  ill  done  of  them.  But  that  though  all 
Bohemia  should  apostatize,  yet  he  would  celebrate  and 
commend  the  doctrine  of  Huss  to  all  posterity.  That, 
therefore,  he  prayed  and  exhorted  them  to  persevere  in 
that  way  which  they  had  hitherto  defended  with  the  loss  of 
much  blood,  and  with  highest  resolution,  and  not  cast  a 
reproach  upon  the  flourishing  gospel  by  their  defection. 
That  although  all  things  were  not  established  among  them, 
as  they  ought  to  be,  yet  God  would  not  be  wanting,  in 
time,  to  raise  up  some  faithful  servants  of  his,  who  would 
reform  what  was  amiss,  provided  they  continued  constant, 
and  utterly  rejected  the  uncleanness  and  impiety  of  the 
Romish  papacy.* 

'     Mr.  Robinson  thus  recapitulates  the  history  of  the  Bohe- 
mian brethren. 

"  Authentic  records  in  France  assure  us  that  a  people  of 
a  certain  description  were  driven  from  thence  in  the  twelfth 

*  Sleidaa's  History  of  the  Reformation,  p.  53. 


SECT.  VIII.]     History  of  the  Bohemian  Brethren.  197 

century.  Bohemian  records  of  equal  authenticity  inform 
us  that  some  of  the  same  description  arrived  in  Boliemia  at 
the  same  time,  and  settled  near  a  hundred  miles  from  Prague, 
at  S;dtz  and  Laun,  on  the  river  Eger,  just  on  the  borders  of 
the  kingdom.  Almost  two  hundred  years  after,  another 
undoubted  record  of  the  same  country  mentions  a  people  of 
the  same  description,  some  as  burnt  at  Prague,  and  others 
as  inhabiting  the  borders  of  thie  kingdom  ;  and  a  hundred 
and  fifty  years  after  that,  we  find  a  people  of  the  same  des- 
cription settled  by  connivance  in  the  metropolis,  and  in 
several  other  parts  of  the  kingdom.  About  one  hundred  and 
twenty  years  lower  we  find  a  people  in  the  same  country 
living  under  the  protection  of  law  on  the  estate  of  Prince 
Lichtenstein  exactly  like  all  the  former,  and  about  thirty  or 
forty  thousand  in  number.  The  religious  character  oi  this 
people  is  so  very  different  from  that  of  all  others,  that  the 
likeness  is  not  easily  mistaken.  They  had  no  priests,  but 
taught  one  another.  They  had  no  private  property,  for 
they  held  all  things  jointly.  They  executed  no  offices, 
and  neither  exacted  nor  took  oaths.  They  bore  no  arms, 
and  rather  chose  to  suffer  than  resist  wrong.  They  held 
every  tiling  called  religion  in  the  Church  of  Rome  in  ab- 
horrence, and  worshipped  God  only  by  adoring  his  perfec- 
tions, and  endeavouring  to  imitate  his  goodness.  They 
thought  Christianity  wanted  no  comment ;  and  they  pro- 
fessed the  belief  of  that  by  being  baptized,  and  their  love 
to  Christ  and  one  another  by  receiving  the  Lord's  Supper. 
They  aspired  at  neither  wealth  nor  power,  and  their  plan 
was  industry.  We  have  shown  how  highly  probable  it  is 
that  Bohemia  afforded  them  work,  wages,  and  a  secure 
asylum,  which  were  all  they  wanted.  If  these  be  facts, 
they  are  facts  that  do  honour  to  human  nature,  they  exhibit 
in  the  great  picture  of  the  world  a  few  small  figures  in  a 
back  ground,  unstained  with  the  blood,  and  unruliled  with 
the  disputes,  of  their  fellow-creatures.* 

*  Ecclesiastical  Researches,  p.  527. 
Vol.  II.  2  D 


196 


€f^^pttv  TH* 


THE  HISTORV  OF  THE  WALDENSES  CONTINUED  FROM  THE 
MIDDLE  OF  THE  FOURTEENTH  TO  THE  CLOSE  OF  THE 
SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY. 


SECTIOir  I. 

The  history  of  the  Waldenses,  from  the  middle  of  the  four' 
teenth,  to  the  end  of  the  fifteenth  century. 

A.  D.  1350—1500. 

In  reading  the  history  of  every  country,  says  a  late 
noble  author,  there  are  certain  periods  at  which  the  mind 
naturally  pauses,  to  meditate  upon,  and  consider  them, 
with  reference,  not  only  to  their  immediate  efl'ects,  but  to 
their  more  remote  consequences.*  This  remark  is  as  ap- 
plicable to  the  history  of  the  Christian  church  as  it  is  to 
that  of  any  particular  country.  I  have  endeavoured  to 
conduct  the  reader  through  the  mazes  and  labyrinths  of 
that  history,  during  a  period  of  nearly  fourteen  hundred 
years,  in  which  time  we  have  traversed  a  dreary  wilderness, 
througli  a  dark  and  benighted  season,  until  we  are  at  length 
brought  to  approach  the  confines  of  light — the  morning  of 
the  Reformation.  In  entering  upon  the  last  chapter  of 
this  book,  it  may  be  no  unprofitable  employ,  therefore,  for 
us  to  pause  and  take  a  review  of  the  existing  state  of  Eu- 
rope, at  this  interesting  period,  in  reference  to  the  great 
concern  of  religion.    The  picture,  indeed,  has  been  already 

*  Fox's  History  of  James  II. — Introduction,  p.  5. 


SECT.  I.]    State  of  religion  prior  to  the  Reformation.      199 

sketclied  by  an  al)]e  artist,  and,  probably,  I  cannot  do  bet- 
ter than  present  it  to  the  reader. 

"The  state  of  religion  at  this  time  was  truly  deplorable. 
Ecclesiastical  government,  instead  of  that  evangelical  sim- 
plicity, and  fraternal  freedom,  which  Jesus  Christ  and  his 
apostles  had  taught,  was  now  become  a  spiritual  domina- 
tion under  the  form  of  a  temporal  empire.     An  innumera- 
ble multitude  of  dignities,  titles,  rights  and  honours,  privi- 
leges and  pre-eminences  belonged  to  it,  and  were  all  de- 
pendent on    a   sovereign   priest,  who,   being  an  absolute 
monarch,  required  every  thought  to  be  in  subjection  to  him. 
The  chief  ministers  of  religion  were  actually  become  tem- 
poral princes  ;  and  the  high-priest,  being   absolute  sove- 
reign of  the  ecclesiastical  state,  had  his  court  and  his  coun- 
cil,  his   ambassadors  to  negotiate,  and  his  armies  to  mur- 
der— his  flock.     The  clergy  had  acquired  immense  wealth ; 
and,  as  their  chief  study  was  either  to  collect  and  to  aug- 
ment their  revenues,  or  to  prevent  the  alienation  of  their 
estates,  they  had  constituted  numberless  spiritual  corpora- 
tions with  powers,  rights,  statutes,  privileges,  and  officers. 
The   functions  of  the  ministry   were  generally  neglected, 
and,  of  consequence,  gross  ignorance  prevailed.     All  ranks 
of  men  were  extremely  depraved  in  their  morals,  and  the 
Pope's  penitentiary  had  published  the  price  of  every  crime, 
as  it  was  rated   in  the  tax-book  of  the  Roman  chancery. 
Marriages,  which  reason  and  scripture  allowed,  the  Pope 
prohibited,  and  for  money  dispensed  with  those  which  both 
forbad.     Church-benefices  were   sold   to   children,  and   to 
laymen,  who  then  let  them  to  under  tenants,  none  of  whom 
performed  the  duty  for  which  the  profits  were  paid ;  but  all 
having  obtained  them  by  simony,  spent  their  lives  in  fleecing 
the  flock  to  repay  themselves.     The  power  of  the   pontiflT 
was  so  gi*eat,  that  he  assumed,  and  what  was   more   as- 
tonishing, he  was  suflered  to  exercise,   a  supremacy  over 
many  kingdoms.     When   monarciis  gratified  his  will,   he 
put  on  a  triple  crown,  ascended  a  throne,  suflered  them  to 
call  him  Holiness,  and  to  kiss  his  feet.     When  they  diso- 
bliged him,  he  suspended  all  religious  worship  in  their  do- 


200  .  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [ch.  vi, 

minions ;  published  false  and  abusive  libels,  called  bulls, 
which  operated  as  laws,  to  injure  their  persons  ;  discharged 
their  subjects  from  obedience  ;  and  gave  their  crowns  to 
any  who  would  usurp  them.  He  claimed  an  infallibilit}  of 
knowledge,  and  an  omnipotence  of  strength  ;  and  he  for- 
bad the  world  to  examine  his  claim.  He  was  addressed 
by  titles  of  blasphemy,  and  though  he  owned  no  jurisdic- 
tion over  himself,  yet  he  afl'ected  to  extend  his  authority 
over  heaven  and  hell,  as  well  as  over  a  middle  place  culled 
purgatory,  of  all  which  places  he  said  he  kept  the  keys. 
This  irregular  church-polity  was  attended  with  quarrels, 
intrigues,  schisms,  and  wars. 

"  Religion  itself  was  made  to  consist  of  the  performance 
of  numerous  ceremonies,  of  pagan,  Jewish,  and  monkish 
extraction,  all  which  might  be  performed  without  either 
faith  in  God,  or  love  to  mankind.  The  church  ritual  was 
an  address,  not  to  the  reason,  but  to  the  senses,  of  men; 
music  stole  the  ear,  and  soothed  the  passions ;  statues, 
paintings,  vestments,  and  various  ornaments,  beguiled  the 
eye;  while  the  pause,  which  was  produced  by  that  sudden 
attack,  which  a  multitude  of  objects  made  on  the  senses, 
on  entering  a  spacious  decorated  edifice,  was  enthusiasti- 
cally taken  for  devotion.  Blind  obedience  was  first  al- 
lowed by  courtesy,  and  then  established  by  law.  Public 
worship  was  performed  in  an  unknown  tongue,  and  the 
sacrament  was  adored  as  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ. 
The  credit  of  the  ceremonial,  produced  in  the  people  a 
notion  that  the  performance  of  it  was  the  practice  of  piety, 
and  religion  degenerated  into  gross  superstition.  Vice, 
uncontrolled  by  reason  or  scripture,  retained  a  pagan 
vigour,  and  committed  the  most  horrid  crimes;  and  super- 
stition atoned  for  them,  by  building  and  endowing  reli- 
gious houses,  and  by  bestowing  donations  on  the  church. 
Human  merit  was  introduced,  saints  were  invoked,  and  the 
perfections  of  God  were  distributed  by  canonization,  among 
the  creatures  of  the  Pope. 

"The  pillars,  that  supported  this  edifice,  were  immense 
riches,  arising,  by  imposts,  from  the  sins  of  mankind;  idle 


SECT  I.]  First  persecution  of  the  Waldenses  in  Savoy.    201 

distinctions  between  supreme  aud  subordinate  adoration; 
senseless  axioms,  called  the  divinity  of  the  schools;  preach- 
ments ofbufloonery,  or  blasphemy,  or  both;  cruel  casuistry, 
consisting  of  a  body  of  dangerous  and  scandalous  morality; 
false  miracles  and  midnight  visions;  spurious  books  and 
paltry  relics;  oaths,  dungeons,  inquisitions,  and  crusades. 
The  whole  was  denominated  the  holy,  catholic,  and 
APOSTOLIC  CHURCH,  and  laid  to  the  charge  of  Jesus  Christ."* 
These  things  premised,  we  now  return  to  the  history  of 
the  Waldenses. 

About  the  year  1400,  a  violent  outrage  was  committed 
upon  the  Waldenses  who  inhabited  the  valley  of  Pragela, 
in  Piedmont,  b}'  the  Catholic  party  resident  in  that  neigh- 
bourhood. The  attack,  which  seems  to  have  been  of  the 
most  furious  kind,  was  made  towards  the  end  of  the  month 
of  December,  when  the  mountains  were  covered  with 
snow,  and  thereby  rendered  so  difficult  of  access,  that  the 
peaceable  inhabitants  of  the  valleys  were  wholl}'  unapprised 
that  any  such  attempt  was  meditated ;  and  the  persecutors 
were  in  actual  possession  of  their  cavess,  ere  the  former 
seem  to  have  been  aware  of  any  hostile  designs  against 
them.  In  this  pitiable  plight  they  had  recourse  to  the 
only  alternative  which  remained  for  saving  their  lives — 
they  fled  to  one  of  the  highest  mountains  of  the  Alps,  with 
their  wives  and  children,  the  unhappy  mothers  carrying 
the  cradle  in  one  hand,  and  in  the  other  leading  such  of 
their  offspring  as  were  able  to  walk.  Their  inhuman  in- 
vaders, whose  feet  were  swift  to  shed  blood,  pursued  them 
in  their  flight,  until  night  came  on,  and  slew  great  num- 
bers of  them,  before  they  could  reach  the  mountains. 
Those  that  escaped,  were,  however,  reserved  to  experience 
a  fate  not  more  enviable.  Overtaken  by  the  shades  of 
night,  »hey  wandered  up  and  down  the  mountains,  covered 
with  snow,  destitute  of  the  means  of  shelter  from  the  in- 

*  Memoirs  of  the  Reformation  in  France,  prefixed  to  Saurin's  Ser- 
mons, translated  by  Robiason.    Vol.  1. 


20:2  History  of  the  Christian  Church.        [ch.  vi. 

clemencies  of  the  weather,  or  of  supporting  themselves 
under  it  by  any  of  the  comforts  which  providence  has  des- 
tined for  that  purpose;  benumbed  with  cold,  they  fell  an 
easy  prey  to  the  severity  of  the  climate,  and  when  the 
night  had  passed  away,  there  were  found  in  their  cradles 
or  lying  upon  the  snow,  fourscore  of  their  infants,  deprived 
of  hfe,  many  of  the  mothers  also  lying  dead  by  their  sides, 
and  others  just  upon  the  point  of  expiring.  During  the 
night,  their  enemies  were  busily  employed  in  plundering 
the  houses  of  every  thing  that  was  valuable,  which  they 
conveyed  away  to  Susa.  A  poor  woman,  belonging  to 
the  Waldenses,  named  Margaret  Athode,  was  next  morn- 
ing found  hanging  upon  a  tree  ! 

This  seems  to  have  been  the  jSrst  general  attack  that 
was  made  by  the  Catholics  on  the  Waldenses  of  Piedmont ; 
for,  though  the  former  had  repeatedly  availed  themselves 
of  the  edicts  of  emperors,  the  bulls  of  the  Popes,  and  the 
promptitude  of  inquisitorial  zeal,  to  disturb  their  peace, 
and  put  many  of  them  to  death,  during  the  three  preceding- 
centuries,  yet  such  had  been  the  protection  afforded  them 
by  the  Dukes  of  Savoy,  that  the  rage  of  their  adversaries 
was  happily  restricted  to  the  occasional  apprehension  of  a 
few  solitary  heretics,  for  whose  good  they  never  failed  to 
light  up  the  fires  as  often  as  opportunity  was  afforded 
them.  But  the  outrageous  attack  that  was  now  made 
upon  them  was  a  novelty,  and  it  made  a  lasting  impression 
on  their  minds.  They  had  experienced  nothing  like  it, 
say  their  own  historians,  either  in  their  own  time  or  that 
of  their  forefathers;  and  for  more  than  a  century  after- 
wards, they  were  wont  to  speak  of  it  as  of  a  dreadful  scene 
which  was  still  present  to  their  view ;  and  from  generation 
to  generation,  they  continued  to  relate,  with  deep  impres- 
sions of  horror,  that  sudden  surprise  which  had  occasioned 
so  much  affliction  and  calamity  among  them.* 

*  Vig'naux's  Memoirs  of  the  Waldenses — Perrin's  Hist,  des  Vaudois, 
b,  ii.  ch.  iii. — Pierre  Gille's  Hist.  Eccles.  c  4. — Morlaad's  Churches 
•f  Piedmont,  p.  194. 


SECT.  I.]    Persecution  of  the  Waldenses  in  France.        203 

.  From  that  period,  until  about  the  year  14S7,  the  Wal- 
denses of  Piedmont  appear  to  have  remained,  in  a  great 
measure,  uimiolested  in  the  profession  of  their  religion. 
But  scenes  of  far  more  extensive  cruelty  were  awaiting 
them,  as  will  hereafter  be  shown ;  it  is,  however,  necessary 
for  us  first  to  take  a  view  of  the  proceedings  against  their 
bretiuen  in  other  quarters. 

The  persecution  which  had.  so  furiously  raged  against 
them  in  France,  during  the  earlier  part  of  the  thirteenth 
century,  as  detailed  in  a  former  section,  and  which  may  be 
said  to  have  dehiged  the  earth  with  their  blood,  had  not 
wholly  succeeded  in  extirpating  the  Waldenses  from  that 
country.  Tiie  valleys  of  Fraissiniere,  Argentiere,  and 
Loyse,*  seem  to  have  abounded  with  them  in  the  year 
1460,  at  which  time  a  Franciscan  monk,  armed  with  in- 
quisitorial authority  by  the  archbishop  of  Ambrun,  was 
sent  on  a  mission  of  persecution,  and  to  drive  them  from 
the  neighbourhood.  Such  was  the  ardour  with  which  this 
zealot  proceeded  in  his  measures,  that  scarcely  any  persons 
in  those  valleys  escaped  being  apprehended  either  as  here- 
tics or  as  their  abettors.  Those  of  them,  who  were  not  of 
the  profession  of  the  Waldenses,  had  recourse  to  the  king 
of  France,  Louis  XL,  beseeching  him  to  interfere,  and  by 
his  authority,  put  a  stop  to  the  course  of  such  persecutions. 
The  monarch  listened  to  their  application,  and  issued  his 
royal  letters,  in  which  he  pointedly  condemns  the  conduct 
of  the  inquisitors,  who  by  measures  the  most  vexatious,  had 
molested  the  persons,  and  possessed  themselves  of  the  pro- 
perty, of  innocent  subjects,  whom  they  had,  with  that 
intent,  falsely  accused  of  heresy,  and  annoyed  with  process 
upon  process,  both  in  the  parliament  of  Dauphiny,  and  of 
several  other  countries. 

Perrin  has  preserved  a  copy  of  these  royal  letters,  in  his 
History  of  the  Waldenses ;  and  they  are  entitled  to  regard 

*  The  reader  should  not  forget  the  pleasing  picture  which  Thuanus 
has  sketched  of  the  inhabitants  of  these  valleys,  and  which  has  been 
already  quoted.    See  pages  69 — 1 1  of  this  volume. 


204  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [ch.  vi. 

from  the  disclosure  which  they  make. of  the  scandalous  pro- 
cedure of  those  agents  of  the  court  of  Rome.  A  short 
extract  will  show  the  complexion  of  the  whole.  Thus  his 
majesty  proceeds.  "  And,  whereas,  in  order  to  obtain  the 
confiscation  of  the  goods  of  those  whom  they  charge  with 
the  said  crime  [of  heresy]  several  of  the  judges,  and  even 
of  the  inquisitors  of  the  faith — are  continuing  to  send  out 
processes  against  several  poor  people,  without  any  just  or 
reasonable  cause  ;  and  have  put  some  upon  the  rack,  calling 
them  to  answer  without  any  previous  informations  lodged 
against  them ;  and  have  condemned  them  for  crimes  of 
which  they  were  not  guilty,  as  hath  afterwards  been  dis- 
covered ;  while  from  others  they  have  exacted  large  sums 
of  money  to  obtain  their  liberty,  and  molested  and  troubled 
them  by  divers  unjust  and  illegal  means,  to  the  injury  not 
only  of  the  said  supplicants,  but  also  of  us  and  the  whole 
republic  of  our  country  of  Dauphiny,  &.c.,  &ic. — the  king, 
therefore, puts  a  stop  to  such  disgraceful  proceedings;  orders 
that  all  suits  commenced  against  such  persons  as  can  give 
proof  of  their  innocence  be  dismissed,  and  that  restitution 
be  made  for  any  injury  they  may  have  sustained."* 

But  the  zeal,  or  avarice,  of  the  Archbishop  of  Ambrun, 
and  his  inquisitorial  colleagues,  was  so  far  from  being 
damped  by  his  majesty's  letters,  that  they  proceeded  with 
more  energy  than  ever.  They  dexterously  contrived  to  con- 
vert a  certain  clause  of  the  letters,  into  an  authority  for 
their  cruel  proceeding,  and  found  in  it  an  entire  justification 
of  all  their  conduct ;  in  consequence  of  which  they  resisted 
every  application  for  redress  or  remuneration.  Altempts 
were  repeatedly  made  by  some  of  these  oppressed  people 
to  regain  the  property  of  which  they  had  been  despoiled  ; 
but  though  their  cause  was  patronized,  both  by  this  monarch 
and  by  his  successor  Charles  VIII.  they  never  could  obtain 
a  remedy. 

Innocent  VIII.  was  raised  to  the  pontifical  chair  in  the 
year   1414,  and  soon  after  invested  Albert  de  Capitaneis, 

*  Perria's  Hist.  b.  ii.  ch.  iii. 


SECT.  I.]       Papal  hull  against  the  JValdenses.  205 

Archdeacon  of  Cremona,  with  full  powers  to  act  as  his  le- 
gate and  commissioner.  Accerding  to  the  usual  practice 
of  the  Popes  on  their  accession  to  office,  this  pontifi"  issued 
his  bull  for  the  extirpation  of  heresy,  pointing  it  particu- 
larly against  the  Waldenses,  and  arming  Albert  with  au- 
thority to  carry  his  will  into  effect.  Having  recounted,  in 
a  long  preamble,  the  titles  which  belonged  to  himself  and 
to  his  "  beloved  son  Albert,"  hethus  proceeds,  "  Our  hearty 
desires  chiefly  tend  to  this,  that  as  touching  those,  for  the 
gaining  of  whom  to  the  church,  the  supreme  IVlaker  of  all 
things  was  pleased  to  underi^o  human  infirmities,  we,  to 
whom  he  hath  committed  the  care  and  government  of  his 
flock,  may,  with  all  watchi'ul  industry  endeavour  to  with- 
draw them  from  the  precipices  of  error,  that,  providing  for 
their  salvation,  as  it  shall  please  God  to  favour  us  with 
grace,  we  may  continually  labour,  that  the  Catholic  faith 
may,  in  our  times,  be  propagated,  and  the  evil  of  heresy 
be  rooted  out  from  the  borders  of  the  faithful."  After  this 
precious  specimen  of  dissimulation,  his  holiness  condescends 
to  be  a  little  more  explicit.  "  We  have  heard,"  says  he, 
*'and  it  is  come  to  our  knowledge,  not  without  much  dis- 
pleasure, that  certain  sons  of  iniquity,  followers  of  that 
abominable  and  pernicious  sect  of  malignant  men,  called 
the  poor  of  Lyons,  or  Waldenses,  who  have  long  ago  en- 
deavoQred,  in  Piedmont  and  other  places,  to  ensnare  the 
sheep  belonging  to  God,  to  the  perdition  of  their  souls, 
having  damnably  risen  up,  under  a  feigned  pretence  of  holi- 
ness— being  given  up  to  a  reprobate  sense,  and  made  to 
err  greatly  from  the  way  of  truth — committing  things  con- 
trary to  the  orthodox  faith,  offensive  to  the  eyes  of  the 
Divine  Majesty,  and  which  occasion  a  great  hazard  of 
souls,"  he,  &,c.  "  We,  therefore,  having  determined  to  use 
aU  our  endeavours,  and  to  employ  all  our  care,  as  we  are 
bound  by  the  duty  of  our  pastoral  charge,  to  root  up  and 
extirpate  such  a  detestable  sect — that  the  hearts  of  be- 
lievers may  not  be  damnably  perverted  from  the  Catholic 
church — have  thought  good  to  constitute  you,  at  this  time, 
Vol.  II.  2  E 


20G  History  of  the  Christian  Church.         [ch.  vi. 

lor  the  cause  of  God  and  the  faith,  the  Nuncio  Commis- 
sioner of  us  and  of  the  apostolic  see,  within  the  dominions 
of  our  beloved  son  Charles,  Duke  of  Savoy — to  the  end 
that  you  should  induce  the  followers  of  the  most  wicked 
sect  of  the  Waldenses,  and  all  others  polluted  with  heretical 
pravity — to  aljjure  their  errors,  &c.  And,  calling  to  your 
assistance,  all  archbishops  and  bishops,  seated  in  the  said 
dutchy  [of  Savoy]  whom  the  Most  High  hath  called  to 
share  with  us  in  our  cares — with  the  inquisitor,  the  ordina- 
ries of  the  place,  their  vicars,  &;c. — you  proceed  to  the  exe- 
cution thereof  against  the  aforenamed  Waldenses,  and  all 
other  heretics  whatever,  to  rise  up  in  arms  against  them,  and 
by  a  joint  communication  of  processes,  to  tread  them  un- 
der foot  as  venomous  adders ;  diligently  providing  that  the 
people  committed  to  their  charge  do  persevere  in  the  pro- 
fession of  the  true  faith — bending  all  your  endeavours,  and 
bestowing  all  your  care,  towards  so  holy  and  so  necessary 
an  extermination  of  the  same  heretics."  In  this  style  the 
pontiff  proceeds  through  several  succeeding  pages,  giving 
directions  for  the  raising  of  an  army  of  crusaders,  appoint- 
ing generals  and  officers  to  command  it — issuing  instruc- 
tions how  to  seize  the  efl'ects  of  all  heretics,  and  dispose  of 
the  booty,  he,  he,  and  at  length  he  thus  closes  the  address 
to  Albert.  "  Thou,  therefore,  beloved  son,  taking  upon 
thee  with  a  devout  mind,  the  burden  of  so  meritorious  a 
work,  show  thyself,  in  the  execution  thereof,  so  careful  in 
word  and  deed,  and  so  diligoit  and  studious,  that  the  much 
wished  for  fruits  may,  through  the  grace  of  God,  redound 
unto  thee  from  thy  labours,  and  that  thou  mayest  not  only 
obtain  the  crown  of  glory  which  is  bestowed  as  a  reward 
on  those  that  prosecute  pious  causes,  but  that  thou  mayest 
also  ensure  the  approbation  of  us  and  of  the  apostolic  see."* 
T-Given  at  Rome,  at  St.  Peters,  27  Apr.  1487,  and  3d  of 
our  popedom. 

Albert  was  no  sooner  vested  with  his  high  commission, 
than  he  proceeded  to  the  south  of  France,  where  he  called 

*  Morland's  Churches  of  Piedmont,  p.  196—206, 


SECT.  I.]       Attack  on  the  valley  of  Fraissiniere.  207 

to  his  aid  the  king's  lieutenant  in  the  province  of  Dauphiny, 
who  lost  no  time  in  levying  troops  tor  his  service,  at  the 
head  of  whom  he  himself  marched,  as  directed  by  Albert, 
into  the  valley  of  Loyse.  The  inhabitants  apprised  of 
their  approach,  fled  into  their  caves  at  the  tops  of  the 
mountains,  carrying  with  them  their  children,  and  whatever 
valuables  they  had,  as  well  as  what  was  thought  necessary 
for  their  support  and  nourisliment.  The  lieutenant  finding 
the  inhabitants  all  fled,  and  that  not  an  individual  appear- 
ed with  whom  he  could  converse,  at  length  discovered  their 
retreats,  and  causing  quantities  of  wood  to  be  placed  at 
their  entrances,  ordered  it  to  be  set  on  fire.  The  conse- 
quence was,  that  four  hundred  children  were  suflfocated  in 
their  cradles,  or  in  the  arms  of  their  dead  mothers,  wliile 
multitudes,  to  avoid  dying  by  sufibcation,  or  being  burnt 
to  death,  precipitated  themselves  headlong  from  their 
caverns  upon  the  rocks  below,  where  they  were  dashed  in 
pieces ;  or  if  any  escaped  death  by  the  fall,  they  were  im- 
mediately slaughtered  by  the  brutal  soldiery.  "It  is  held 
as  unquestionably  true,"  says  Perrin,  "  amongst  the  Wal- 
denses  dwelling  in  the  adjacent  valleys,  that  more  than 
three  thousand  persons,  men  and  women,  belonging  to  the 
valley  of  Loyse,  perished  on  tiiis  occasion.  And,  indeed, 
they  were  wholly  exterminated,  for  that  valley  was  after- 
wards peopled  with  new  inhabitants,  not  one  family  of  the 
Waldenses  having  subsequently  resided  in  it ;  which  proves 
beyond  dispute,  that  all  the  inhabitants,  and  of  both  sexes, 
died  at  that  time."* 

Having  completed  their  work  of  extermination  in  the 
valley  of  Loyse,  they  next  proceeded  to  that  of  Fraissi- 
niere ;  but  Albert's  presence  and  that  of  the  army  being 
found  necessary  in  another  quarter,  he  appointed  as  his 
substitute  in  these  valleys,  a  Franciscan  monk,  who,  in  the 
year  1489,  began  to  exhibit  fresh  informations  against  the 
inhabitants  of  Fraissiniere.  He  cited  them  to  appear  be- 
fore him  at  Ambrim ;  but,  disregarding  his  citation,  they 

*  Perrin's  History,  b.  ii.  ch.  iii. 


208  History  of  the  Christian  Church,  [cH.  vu 

were  first  excommunicated,. then  anathematized,  and  lastly, 
condemned  as  contumacious  heretics,  to  be  delivered  over 
to  the  secular  power,  and  their  goods  confiscated.  A  coun- 
sellor, of  the  name  of  Ponce,  attended  on  this  occasion  in 
behalf  of  the  parhament  of  Dauphiny,  the  object  of  which 
was  supposed  to  be  that  of  precluding  any  appeal  being 
made  from  this  mixt  judgment.  The  sentence  was  pro- 
nounced at  the  great  church  of  Ambrun,  and  afterwards 
fixed  upon  the  door  of  the  church — to  which  were  appended 
thirty-two  articles  of  tlie  faith  of  the  Waldenses,  chiefly  re- 
lating to  the  mass,  purgatory,  the  invocation  of  saints,  pil- 
grimages, the  observance  of  feasts,  the  distinction  of  meats 
on  certain  days,  &,c.,  on  all  which  subjects  they  were  re- 
garded as  heretical.  To  these,  indeed,  were  added  some 
detestable  charges,  concerning  incest  and  uncleanness,  but 
which,  as  they  never  had  the  sen)blance  of  probability  to 
support,  or  even  render  them  plausible,  1  deem  it  unneces- 
sary to  particularize. 

The  persecution  which  ensued,  is  said  to  have  been  ex- 
tremely severe.  For  the  Waldenses  being  condemned  as 
heretics  by  the  inquisitor.  Ponce,  the  counsellor,  and 
Oronce,  the  judge,  committed  them  to  the  flames  as  fast  as 
they  were  apprehended,  without  permitting  them  to  make 
any  appeal.  The  number  of  sufierers  was  also  considerably 
augmented  on  another  ground  ;  for,  whoever  presumed  to 
intercede  in  their  behalf,  though  it  were  the  child  for  the 
parent,  or  the  parent  for  the  child,  he  was  instantly  commit- 
ted to  prison,  and  himself  prosecuted  as  a  favourer  of 
heretics.* 

While  these  merciless  proceedings  were  going  on  against 
the  Waldenses  in  France,  Albert  de  Capitaneis  had  advan- 
ced in  the  year  1488,  at  the  head  of  eighteen  thousand  sol- 
diers, against  the  valleys  of  Piedmont.  The  invading  army 
was  also  joined  by  many  of  the  Piedmontese  Catholics, 
who  hastened  to  it  from  all  parts,  allured  by  the  specious 
promise  of  obtaining  the  remission  of  their  sins,  and  the 

*  Perrin's  History,  b.  ii.  ch.  iii. 


SECT.  1.]     Attack  on  the  Waldenses  in  Piedmont.  209 

hope  of  sharing  in  the  sweets  of  plunder.  The  more  eflec- 
tually  to  get  possession  of  the  country,  the  enemy's  lorces 
were  divided  into  detachments,  and  marched  in  difierent 
directions  against  Angrogne,  Lucerne,  la  Perouse,  St. 
Martin,  Praviglerm,  and  Biolet  which  is  in  the  marquisate 
of  Saluces ;  thus,  as  it  were,  encompassing  the  whole  of 
the  valleys.  They  also  raised  troops  in  Dauphiny,  to  over- 
run the  valley  of  Pragela.  But  the  Waldenses,  armed  with 
wooden  targets  and  cross  bows,  avading  themselves  of  the 
advantages  of  their  situation,  every  where  defended  the 
passes  of  their  mountains,  and  repulsed  their  invaders — 
"the  women  and  children  on  their  knees,  during  the  con- 
flict, entreating  the  Lord  to  protect  his  peojile." 

When  information  of  this  affair  was  brought  to  the  Duke 
of  Savoy,  his  heart  was  touched  with  compassion  towards 
his  subjects.  He  was  convinced  they  had  always  been  a 
loyal  and  obedient  people,  and  he  candidly  distinguished 
between  the  resistance  which,  on  this  occasion,  his  subjc<  ts 
had  made,  and  a  spirit  of  sedition  and  turbulence.  They 
sent  a  deputation  to  wait  upon  him,  and  explain  the  mo- 
tives of  their  conduct;  at  the  same  time  offering  an  apology 
for  whatever  might  seem  improper.  The  prince  accepted 
their  apology  and  forgave  them  what  was  past.  But  ha- 
ving been  informed  that  their  young  children  were  born 
with  black  throats — that  they  were  hairy,  and  had  four  rows 
of  teeth,  with  only  one  eye,  and  that  placed  in  the  middle 
of  their  forehead,  he  commanded  some  of  them  to  be  brought 
before  him  to  Pignerol,  where,  being  satisfied  by  occular 
demonstration,  that  the  Waldenses  were  not  monsters,  he 
blamed  himself  for  being  so  easily  imposed  upon  by  the 
clergy  of  the  Catholic  church,  as  to  credit  such  idle  re- 
ports; and,  at  the  same  time,  declared  his  determination 
to  protect  them  henceforward  in  the  undisturbed  possession 
of  those  privileges  which  had  been  allowed  their  ancestors, 
and  which  the  rest  of  his  subjects  in  Piedmont  still  enjoyed.* 

*  Perrin's  Hist.  b.  ii.  ch.  iii.     Morland's  Hist.  p.  223 


210  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [en.  vi. 

But  though  this  declaration  sufficiently  manifested  the 
kind  intentions  of  the  prince  towards  his  subjects,  he  seems 
to  have  wanted  the  power  necessary  for  carrying  them  into 
eflect.  The  inquisitors,  who  lay  in  ambush  in  a  convent 
near  Pignerol,  issued  their  processes  daily  against  the  Wal- 
denses,  and  as  often  as  they  could  apprehend  any  of  them, 
they  were  delivered  over  for  punishment  to  the  secular 
power.  In  this  way  they  continued  to  harass  them  in  that 
quarter  until  the  year  1532.  And  it  appears  from  their 
history,  that  by  these  means  a  visible  impression  was  made 
upon  their  public  church-meetings.  The  fear  of  the  in- 
quisitors had  imperceptibly  led  them  to  study  to  avoid 
publicity  ;  and  in  process  of  time  they  assembled  for  wor- 
ship wholly  in  private.  In  the  year  last  mentioned,  how- 
ever, they  seem  to  have  been  sensibly  struck  with  the  im- 
propriety of  this  mode  of  procedure  ;  for  upon  reviewing 
the  existing  state  of  matters  among  them,  they  came  to  the 
determination  no  longer  to  conceal  their  meetings  for  wor- 
ship, but  resolved  that  their  elders  should  preach  the  Gos- 
pel openly  and  boldly,  unawed  by  the  apprehension  of  dan- 
ger from  their  adversaries. 

The  Duke  of  Savoy,  instigated  by  the  archbishop  and 
the  inquisitor  of  Turin,  seems  to  have  taken  umbrage  at 
this  reappearance  in  public  of  the  Waldenses  ;  for,  on  be- 
ing told  of  it,  he  so  far  yielded  to  the  solicitations  of  the 
clergy,  as  to  dispatch  one  of  his  officers  at  the  head  of  five 
hundred  men,  horse  and  foot,  who,  before  the  inhabitants 
were  apprised,  entered  the  valleys,  pillaging,  plundering, 
and  laying  waste  whatever  came  in  their  way.  The  un- 
suspecting people  were,  at  the  time  the  army  approached, 
hidustriously  employed  about  the  cultivation  of  their  lands. 
But  recovering  from  the  panic  into  which  they  had  been 
-  thrown  by  this  unexpected  attack,  they  took  courage,  and 
every  man  quitting  his  plough  and  his  agricultural  pursuits, 
they  flew  to  the  passes  of  their  mountains,  which  they  se- 
cured; and  then  arming  themselves  with  slings  and  stones, 
encountered  their  invaders  so  manfully  that  they  compelled 


SECT.  1.]      Voltaire'' s  account  of  the  fValdenses.  211 

them  to  flee,  leaving  their  booty  behind,  and  many  of  their 
men  dead  upon  the  field. 

When  the  news  of  this  reached  the  Duke  of  Savoy,  he 
remarked  that  experience  had  sufficiently  shown  it  to  be  an 
improper  plan  to  attempt  to  reclaim  and  subdue  the  inha- 
bitants of  Piedmont  by  military  force  ;  the  strength  of  their 
country,  and  their  intimate  acquaintance  with  the  defiles 
and  passes  of  the  mountains,  giving  them  an  infinite  ad- 
vantage over  their  assailants  ;  and,  therefore,  while  the 
skin  of  one  of  the  Waldenses  was  to  be  purchased  at  the 
expense  of  the  lives  of  a  dozen  of  his  other  subjects,  it  was 
foolish  to  proceed  in  that  way.  He,  consequently,  declined 
employing  his  military  force  any  more  against  them,  and 
relinquished  it  to  the  inquisitors  after  heresy,  to  apprehend 
them  two  or  three  at  a  time,  as -they  came  in  or  went  out  of 
the  valleys.* 

I  believe  I  must  here  interrupt  the  narrative,  for  the 
purpose  of  introducing  a  short  extract  from  that  lively 
French  writer,  Monsieur  Voltaire,  in  which  he  furnishes  us 
with  an  estimate  of  the  character  of  the  Waldenses  in 
France,  of  whom  we  have  been  speaking.  It  is  interesting 
to  compare  the  opinions  of  difi'ercnt  writers  upon  any  par- 
ticular subject;  and  the  reader  cannot  be  displeased  at 
having  the  opportunity  of  seeing  how  nearly,  on  this  topic, 
those  of  Voltaire,  a  man  of  no  religion,  coincided  with  the 
sentiments  of  the  liberal  Sleidan,  and  the  incomparable 
Thuanus,  to  both  of  whom  we  have  already  had  occasion 
to  advert,  and  shall  again  in  the  sequel. 

"  In  the  twelfth  century,"  says  Voltaire,  "  there  w  as 
one  Peter  Waldo,  a  rich  merchant  of  Lyons,  whose  piety 
and  errors  are  said  to  have  given  rise  to  the  Vaudois, 
(Waldenses.)  This  man  having  retired  with  several  poor 
people,  whom  he  maintained,  to  the  desert  valleys  betwixt 
Provence  and  Dauphine,  acted  both  as  their  high-pi'iest 
and  father,  instructing  them  in  his  doctrine,  in  which  he 

*  Morland's  History,  p.  221 


212  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [ch.  vi, 

differed  very  little  from  the  Albigenses,  or  from  Wickliff, 
John  Huss,  Luther,  and  Zuinglius,  in  regard  to  several  of 
the  chief  articles.  These  men  lived  a  great  while  in  ob- 
scurity, busied  in  the  culture  of  barren  lands,  which,  with 
indefatigable  industry,  they  rendered  fit  for  corn  and  pas- 
ture: a  proof  of  our  being  greatly  to  blame,  if,  through 
neglect,  we  suffer  any  part  of  France  to  be  uncultivated. 
The  neighbouring  grounds  were  let  to  them  on  leases;  and 
they  improved  the  n  by  their  labour,  so  as  to  maintain 
themselves,  and  to  enrich  their  landlords,  who  never  com- 
plained of  their  behaviour.  In  the  space  of  250  years, 
their  number  increased  to  near  18,000,  who  were  dispersed 
in  thirty  small  towns,  besides  hamlets.  All  this  was  the 
fruit  of  their  industry.  There  were  no  priests  among  them, 
no  quarrels  about  religious  worship,  no  law-suits  j  they 
determined  their  differences  among  themselves.  None  but 
those  who  repaired  to  the  neighbouring  cities  knew  that 
there  existed  any  such  things  as  mass  or  bishops.  They 
prayed  to  God  in  their  own  jargon;*  and,  being  continu- 
ally employed,  they  had  the  happiness  to  know  no  vice. 
This  peaceful  state  they  enjoyed  for  above  200  years,  since 
the  wars  against  the  Alhigenses,  with  which  the  nation  had 
been  wearied.  When  mankind  have  long  rioted  in  cruelty, 
their  fury  abates  and  sinks  into  languor  and  indifference; 
as  we  see  constantly  verified  both  in  the  case  of  individuals 
and  whole  nations.  Such  was  the  tranquillity  which  the 
Waldenses  enjoyed,  when  the  Reformers  of  Germany  and 
Geneva  came  to  hear  that  there  were  others  of  the  same 
persuasion  as  themselves.  Immediately  they  sent  some  of 
their  ministers,  a  name  given  to  the  curates  of  the  Protest- 
ant churches,  to  visit  them;  and  since  then,  the  Waldenses 
are  but  too  well  known. "f     So  far  Mons.  Voltaire,  whose 


*  What  Mons.  Voltaire  means  by  this  uncouth  speech,  is,  that  the 
Waldenses  had  no  litufgy  or  forms  of  pubhc  prayer. 

t  Voltaire's  Universal  History,  Vol.  II.,  p.  338,  12mo.  Edit.  Edin. 
1782, 


SECT.  I.]  Waldenses  why  obscure.  313 

narrative,  considering  the  principles  of  the  author,   is   as 
candid  and  correct  as  could  reasonably  be  expected. 

Of  the  number  of  persons  who  professed  the  faith  of  the 
Waldenses,  both  within  and  without  the  valleys  of  Pied- 
mont, at  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century — the  period 
when  Ludier  broke  off  from  the  church  of  Rome,  and  be- 
gan the  reformation  in  Gernjany,  it  would  be  impossible 
to  attain  to  any  certainty.  But  it  is  presumed  the  reader 
will  have  seen  enough  in  the  preceding  pages  to  satisfy 
him,  that  the  opinion  which  has  so  currently  prevailed 
among  us,  of  the  almost  total  extinction  of  the  Christian 
profession,  in  its  purity,  at  the  time  of,  and  for  ages  pre- 
ceding, the  Lutheran  reformation,  is  altogether  a  popular 
error.  There  was  a  period,  in  the  history  of  ancient  Israel, 
when  idolatry  and  profaneness  appeared  to  have  so  wholly 
deluged  the  land,  that  the  prophet  Elijah  was  led  to  con- 
sider himself  as  a  solitary  worshipper  of  the  true  God,  in 
the  midst  of  the  creation.  Yet  the  Lord  had  reserved  to 
hi'Hself  seven  thousand  souls  who  liad  not  bowed  the  knee 
to  Baal,  although  unknown  to  the  prophet.  It  appears 
from  what  Voltaire  has  just  remarked,  and,  indeed,  an 
attentive  reader  of  the  works  of  Luther  and  his  associates, 
will  easily  perceive,  that  their  minds  laboured  under  a 
somewhat  similar  mistake  as  to  their  own  case.  It  was 
not  without  surprise  they  learnt,  that  there  were  numbers 
around  them,  in  every  country,  opposed  to  the  corruptions 
of  the  church  of  Rome,  and  sighing  in  secret  for  a  reform. 
It  may  also  be  added,  that  Protestants  in  every  succeeding 
age  have  but  too  implicitly  imbibed  their  error.*     The 


*  I  might  instance  in  proof  of  this  fact,  even  in  our  own  times,  Mr. 
Cox's  interesting  life  of  Melancthon,  recently  pubhshed.  The  author 
of  that  work  does  indeed  speak  of  "  Waldus,  Wickliff,  Huss,  and 
Jerome  of  Prague,"  as  of  imperishable  names ;  and  he  adds,  "  but  in 
vain  did  they  struggle  against  the  torrent  of  corruption  that  deluged 
the  earth.  They  could  oppose,  in  their  respective  times  and  stations, 
but  a  momentary  resistance,  and  were  swept  away.  Their  efforts,  in- 
deed, produced  some  effects,  but  they  were  evanescent,  for  'darkness 

Vol.  II.  2  F 


214  History  of  the  Christian  Church.        [ch.  vi. 

blessed  God  hath  never  left  himself  without  witnesses  in 
the  world;  and  even  during  the  reign  of  Antichrist — a 
period  of  the  most  general  and  awful  defection  from  the 
purity  of  his  worsiiip,  he  had  reserved  to  himself  thousands 
and  tens  of  thousands  of  such  as  kept  his  commandments 
and  the  faith  of  Jesus.  Nor  is  there  any  thing  in  this  to 
occasion  our  surprise.  The  real  followers  of  Christ  are 
subjects  of  a  kingdom  that  is  not  of  this  world.  And  ha- 
ving no  national  estabHshment,nor  aiming  at  worldly  power, 
their  principles  and  conduct  have  sehlora  been  thought 
worthy  of  regard  by  the  world,  except  in  so  far  as  their 
public  testimony  against  it  has  subjected  them  to  persecu- 
tion. The  true  profession  of  Christianity  leads  its  friends 
to  cultivate  peace  and  union  among  themselves,  and,  like 
its  divine  author,  to  avoid  all  turbulence  and  faction  in 
the  state. 

But  amidst  the  rubbish  of  error,  as  a  late  writer  has  justly 
remarked,  which  had  accvunulated  century  after  century 
till  the  Reformation,  God  determined  to  erect  the  temple 
of  Truth,  and  his  providence  cleared  an  ample  space,  chose 
a  variety  of  workmen,  and  reared  the  admirable  structure. 
And  as  in  the  erection  of  a  building,  it  is  necessary  that 
there  be  different  kinds  of  labourers,  all  co-operating  to- 
gether and  all  essential  to  complete  the  undertaking,  so  it 
was  requisite,  in  erecting  this  great  edifice,  to  prepare  and 
to  employ  persons  very  difierently  constituted,  but  all  ca- 


covered  the  eartli,  and  gross  darkness  the  people.'    But  when  Luther 
appeared,"  &c. — page  3. 

Now  what  I  object  to,  in  this  statement,  is,  that  it  is  calculated  to 
mislead  the  reader,  inasmuch  as  it  has  a  tendency  to  impress  him  with 
this  very  erroneous  notion,  that  during"  the  twelfth,  thirteenth,  and 
fourteenth  centuries,  the  four  individuals,  whoso  names  he  records, 
were  the  only  advocates  of  reform.  Thus  the  thousands,  and  tens  of 
'thousands,  of  the  Waldeoses  and  Alhigenses,  who  at  the  constant  peril, 
and  generally  at  the  expense  of  their  lives,  kept  up  a  standing  testi- 
mony against  the  abominations  of  the  man  of  sin,  are  wholly  over- 
looked !  This  is  scarcely  pardonable  in  a  dissenter  who  knew  better, 
and  can  only  have  arisen  from  the  most  culpable  inadvertency. 


SECT.  I.]    Estimate  of  the  number  of  the  Waldenses.       216 

pable  of  useful  co-operation.  If  the  reformation  claimed 
the  steady  efforts  of  true  couraf2;e  and  inextinguishable  zeal, 
it  ought  also  to  be  remembered,  that  it  no  less  required  a 
proportion  of  nice  discernment,  elegant  taste,  and  literary 
skill; — if  a  superstition  which  invested  a  mortal  with  the 
prerogative  of  infalhbility,  were  to  be  attacked  and  levelled 
with  the  dust,  the  ignorance  which,  with  its  characteristic 
blindness,  supported  that  superstition,  was  at  the  same  time 
to  be  dethroned  and  demolished ; — if  old  abuses  were  to  be 
removed,  and  a  new  order  of  things  to  be  introduced  and 
systematized,  it  was  desirable  to  find  not  only  a  nervous, 
but  a  polished  mind,  at  once  to  clear  away  the  rubbish  of 
error,  and  clothe  unwelcome  novelties  with  attractive  beauty ; 
— in  a  word,  if  existing  circumstances  called  for  a  Luther, 
they  also  demanded  a  Melancthon.* 

In  the  year  1530,  George  Morel,  one  of  the  pastors  of  a 
church  of  the  Waldenses,  published  Memoirs  of  the  History 
of  their  Churches,  in  which  he  states,  that  at  the  time  he 
wrote,  there  were  above  eight  hundred  thousand  persons 
professhig  the  religion  of  the  Waldenses  ;f  nor  will  this 
appear  an  exaggerated  statement,  if  we  consider  the  view 
that  was  given,  in  the  last  section,  of  their  dispersions 
throughout  almost  every  country  of  Europe — the  immense 
numbers  that  suffered  martyrdom ;  and,  what  was  formerly 
mentioned,  that  in  the  year  1315,  namely  two  centuries 
before  this  time,  there  were  eighty  thousand  of  them  in  the 
small  kingdom  of  Bohemia. 

It  seems  reasonable,  however,  to  conclude,  that  the  Wal- 
denses must  have  beheld  with  infinite  satisfaction,  the  schism 
which  took  place  in  the  Roman  church,  when  Luther  and 
his  associates  withdrew  from  its  communion.  For,  in- 
dependent of  the  labours  of  this  intrepid  reformer,  the 
great  cause  for  which  the  Waldenses  were  contending,  viz. 
the  purity  of  the  doctrines  of  the  gospel,  and  the  simplicity 

*  Cox's  Life  of  Melancthon,  p.  38. 

f  RIorland's  Evangelical  Churches,  p.  224. 


210  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [ch.  vi* 

of  Christian  worship — was  powerfully  supported  by  a  host 
ol"  learned  men,  who  rose  up  in  rapid  succession,  and 
ranged  themselves  on  the  side  of  Luther.  Among  these 
were  Philip  JVIelancthon,  John  Ecolampadius,  Martin  Bucer, 
John  Calvin,  Theodore  Beza,  Zuinghus,  Peter  Martyr, 
Bullenger,  and  many  others,  all  advocates  of  reform,  and 
men  of  eminent  talents,  who,  by  their  various  labours,  both 
from  the  pulpit  and  the  press,  contributed  greatly  to  dis- 
seminate the  knowledge  of  divine  truth,  and  free  the  minds 
of  their  cotemporaries  from  the  slavish  shackles  of  igno- 
rance and  superstition. 

But  although  we  may  readily  conceive  the  pleasure 
which  it  must  have  yielded  the  Waldenses,  to  contemplate 
the  labours  of  these  great  men  in  so  glorious  a  cause,  they 
do  not  appear  to  have  acted  precipitately  in  interfering  with 
them,  or  soliciting  an  union  of  churches.  The  reformers, 
with  all  their  zeal  and  learning,  were  babes  in  scriptural 
knowledge,  when  compared  vi'ith  the  more  illiterate  Wal- 
denses— particularly  in  regard  to  the  nature  of  the  king- 
dom of  Christ,  and  its  institutions,  laws,  and  worship  in 
general,  Luther,  for  instance  ;  besides  that  both  he  and 
Calvin  always  contended  for  a  form  of  national  Christianity 
— a  principle  which,  the  moment  it  is  received  into  the 
mind,  must  necessarily  darken  it  as  to  the  nature  of  the 
kingdom  of  Christ ;  Luther,  with  all  his  zeal  against  popery, 
was  never  able  to  disentangle  his  own  mind  from  the  inex- 
plicable doctrine  of  transubstantiation,  which  he  had  imbibed 
in  the  church  of  Rome.  He,  indeed,  changed  the  name,  but 
he  retained  all  the  absurdity  of  the  thing.  He  rejected  the 
word  transubstantiation,  but  insisted  strenuously  on  a  con- 
substantiation — that  is,  the  bread  and  wine  were  not  chang- 
ed into  the  substance  of  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ,  but 
the  body  and  blood  of  Christ  were  really  and  actually  pre- 
sent in  the  elements  of  bread  and  wine,  and  were  therefore 
literally  eaten  and   drank  by  the   communicants  !*     And 

*  It  is  not  intended  by  this  remark,  to  insinuate  any  disparagement 
to  the  character  of  this  great  reformer,  of  whose  laborious  exertions 


SECT.  I.]  Character  of  Calvin.  217 

with  respect  to  Calvin,  it  is  manifest,  that  the  leading,  and 
to  me  at  least,  the  most  hateful  feature  in  all  the  multiform 
character  of  popery  adhered  to  him  through  life — 1  mean 
the  spirit  of  persecution.  Holding,  as  I  do,  many  doctrinal 
sentiments  in  common  with  Calvin,  I  am  prompted  to  speak 
my  opinion  of  him  with  the  less  reserve.  1  regard  him  as 
a  man  whom  the  Creator  had  endued  with  transcendent 
talents,  and  have  no  doubt  that  he  knew  wiiat  "  flesh  and 
blood  could  never  reveal  to  him."  He  seems  to  have  been 
blessed  with  an  extraordinary  insight  into  the  economy  of 
human  redemption,  as  revealed  in  the  sacred  writings ;  and 
his  vast  and  capacious  mind  took  a  comprehensive  grasp 
of  a  system  which  angels  contemplate  with  wonder  and 


in  the  canse  of  truth  and  virtue  no  one  can  entertain  a  hig-her  opinion 
than  myself.  His  praise  is  in  all  the  churches,  and  wiil  be  handed 
down  to  the  latest  posterity  with  increased  lustre.  Let  me  further  add, 
that,  what  appears  to  me  the  most  amiable  and  interesting  part  of  his 
character  seems  to  be  the  least  g'enerally  known  among-  us  in  the  pre- 
sent day.  To  explain  my  meaning,  I  shall  here  quote  a  passage  from 
the  writings  of  one  of  his  cotemporaries,  who,  in  a  letter  to  Philip 
Melancthon,  thus  describes  him  : 

"  I  cannot  sufficiently  admire  the  extraordinary  cheerfulness,  con- 
Btancy,  faith,  and  hope  of  this  man,  in  these  trying  and  vexatious 
times.  He  continually  nourishes  these  good  affections,  by  a  very  dili- 
gent study  of  the  word  of  God-  Then,  not  a  day  passes  in  which  he 
does  not  occupy  in  prayer  at  least  three  of  his  very  best  hours.  I 
once  happened  to  hear  him  at  prayer.  Gracious  God  !  What  spirit 
and  what  faith  there  was  in  his  language  I  He  petitions  God  with  as 
much  reverence  as  if  he  were  actually  in  the  divine  presence,  and  yet 
with  as  firm  a  hope  and  confidence,  as  he  would  address  a  father  and  a 
friend.  '  I  know,'  says  he,  '  thou  art  our  Father  and  our  God ; 
therefore  I  am  sure  thou  wilt  bring  to  nought  the  persecutors  of  thy 
children.  For  shouldst  thou  fail  to  do  this,  thine  own  cause,  being 
connected  with  ours,  would  be  endangered.  It  is  entirely  thine  own 
concern  ;  we,  by  thy  providence,  have  been  compelled  to  take  a  part. 
Thou,  therefore,  wilt  be  our  defence.' 

"  Whilst  I  was  listening  to  Luther  praying  in  this  manner  at  a  dis- 
tance, my  soul  seemed  on  fire  within  me,  to  hear  the  man  address  God 
so  like  a  friend,  and  yet  with  so  much  gravity  and  reverence  ;  and 
also  to  hear  him,  in  the  course  of  his  prayer,  insisting  on  the  promises 
contained  in  the  Psalms,  as  if  he  were  certain  his  petitions  would  be 
granted."— Ca^esf,  L  275,  Com.  de  Luth.  LXIX.  8. 


218  History  of  the  Christian  Church.         [ch.  vi. 

amazement,  and  in  which  they  study  the  manifold  wisdom 
of  God.  No  mere  man,  probably,  ever  surpassed  Calvin, 
in  his  indefatigable  labours,  according  to  the  measure  of 
his  bodily  strength,  in  making  known  to  others  the  un- 
searchable riches  of  Christ  Jesus,  both  from  the  pulpit  and 
the  press;  and  his  bitterest  enemies  cannot  deny  that  the 
progress  of  the  Reformation  was  wonderfully  accelerated 
by  his  means.  Yet  with  all  these  excellencies,  Calvin  was 
a  persecutor  !  He  had  yet  to  know,  or  at  least  learn  how 
to  practise,  that  simple  lesson  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven, 
f  whatsoever  ye  would  that  men  should  do  unto  you,  do  ye 
even  so  unto  them."  Calvin  could  never  comprehend,  how 
another  man  could  have  as  great  a  right  to  think  wrong, 
as  he  himself  had  to  think  right !  And  that  it  is  the  sole 
prerogative  of  the  King  of  Zion  to  punish  his  enemies  and 
the  corrupters  oj  his  truth.  Upon  this  point  his  judgment 
was  perverted  by  the  principles  of  his  education,  and  unhap- 
pily for  his  own  character  and  the  cause  of  truth,  his  con- 
duct was  founded  upon  this  erroneous  judgment.  His  be- 
haviour throughout  the  whole  affair  of  Servetus,  is  too  well 
known  to  need  any  explanation  in  this  place ;  but  I  con- 
ceive it  to  be  the  imperious  duty  of  every  friend  to  tolera- 
tion and  the  rights  of  conscience,  to  express  their  marked 
abhorrence  of  this  part  of  the  character  of  Calvin.  And 
more  especially  is  it  the  duty  of  those,  the  similarity  of 
whose  theological  creed  to  that  which  he  contended  for, 
hath  subjected  them  to  the  imputation  of  being  his  fol- 
lowers. As  an  obscure,  and  humble  individual  of  that 
class,  I  strenuously  deprecate  every  attempt  to  palliate  the 
enormity  of  Calvin's  conduct  in  the  instance  referred  to, 
by  pleading,  as  many  have  done,  that  Socinus  was  as  bitter 
a  persecutor  as  himself :  for  until  it  be  made  apparent  to 
my  understanding  how  two  blacks  constitute  one  white,  I 
must  regard  such  pleas  as  extremely  ill-judged.  The  truth 
is,  and  it  ought  to  be  avowed,  that  the  conduct  of  Calvin 
admits  of  no  apology  !  It  was  a  violent  outrage  upon  the 
laws  of  humanity   as  well  as  upon  the  laws  of  God,  and 


SECT.  II.]         Remarks  on  the  state  of  Europe.  219 

has  fixed  a  stigma  upon  the  character  of  that  other\vise 
great  man,  which  will  never  be  obliterated.  13ut  ki  iiot 
the  enemies  of  the  truth,  from  this  take  occasion,  as  they 
too  often  have  done,  to  identify  the  spirit  of  persecution 
with  the  doctrines  which  Calvin  held.  His  conduct,  in  this 
particular,  has  drawn  tears  of  lamentation  and  regret  from 
the  eyes  of  thousands,  since  his  time,  on  account  of  the 
reproach  it  has  brought  upon  the  way  of  truth,  "  causing 
it  to  be  evil  spoken  of,"  and  it  will  continue  to  suffuse  with 
all  the  consciousness  of  shame,  the  cheeks  of  thousands 
vet  unborn. 


SECTXOSr  IX. 

History  of  the  Waldenses  from  the  end  of  the  fifteenth  to 
the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  century ;  and  more  especially 
of  the  proceedings  against  them  in  the  South  of  France. 

A.  D.  1500—1550. 

The  history  of  modern  Europe  does  not  present  us 
with  a  more  interesting  period  than  the  commencement  of 
the  sixteenth  century,  the  sera  at  which  we  are  now  arrived. 
The  sanguinary  proceedings  that  had  been  carried  on 
against  the  Waldenses  in  the  southern  provinces  of  France, 
towards  the  close  of  the  former  century,  had  app  ireiitly 
exhausted  the  malice  of  the  court  of  Rome ;  the  It-u'etics, 
for  the  moment  at  least,  were  driven  from  public  view ; 
and  the  state  of  the  Catholic  church  was  more  ihan  usually 
tranquil.  The  empn-e  and  the  priesthood,  which  for  seve- 
ral centuries  had  been  constantly  in  arms  against  each 
other,  had  depopulated  Italy,  Germany,  and  almost  every 
other  country  in  Europe,  but  the  contest  ended  in  the  tri- 
umph of  the  church.  The  Roman  pontiffs,  says  a  late  wi'i- 
ter,  have  always  possessed  an  advantage  over  the  oilier 
sovereigns  of  Europe,  from  the  singular  union  of  ecclesias- 


220  History  of  the  Christian  Church.        [ch.  vi. 

tical  and  temporal  power  in  the  same  person ;  two  engines 
which  long  experience  had  taught  them  to  use  with  a  dex- 
terity equal  to   that  with    which   the  heroes  of  antiquity 
availed  themselves  by  turns  of  the  shield  and  the  spear. 
When  the  schemes  of  ambition  and  aggrandizement  were 
to  be  pursued,  the  Pope,  as  a  temporal  prince,  could  enter 
into  alliances,  raise  supplies,  and  furnish  his  contingent  of 
troops  so  as  efiectually  to  carry  on  an  offensive  war;  but 
no  sooner  was  he  endangered  by  defeat,  and  alarmed  for 
the  safety  of  his  own  government,  than  he  resorted  for  shel- 
ter to  his  pontifical  robes,  and  loudly  called  upon  all  Chris-' 
tendom   to   defend    from  violation   the  head   of  the   holy 
church.     These  characters  were  successively  assumed  with 
great  address  and  advantage ;  and  although  some  difficul- 
ties might  occasionally  arise  in  the  exercise  of  them,  yet 
the  world  has  been  sufficiently  indulgent  to  their  situation  ; 
nor  has  even  the  shedding  of  Christian  blood  been  thought 
an  invincible  objection   to  the  conferring  on  a   deceased 
pontiff  the  honour   of  adoration,  and  placing  him  in  the 
highest  order  of  sainthood  conferred  by  the  church.* 

At  the  opening  of  the  sixteenth  century  the  pontifical 
chair  was  filled  by  Alexander  VI.,  who  died  in  1503,  after 
a  reign  of  eleven  years,  leaving  behind  him  a  memory,  says 
Voltaire,  more  odious  than  the  Neros  or  Caligulas,  because 
a  greater  degree  of  guilt  arose  from  the  sanctity  of  his  cha- 
racter. He  was  succeeded  by  Julius  II.,  who  after  a  mili- 
tary but  successful  reign  of  a  {ew  years,  gave  place  to  the 
celebrated  Leo  X.,  in  whose  pontificate  Luther  commenced 
hostilities  with  the  papac}^,  threw  off  his  allegiance  to  the 
See  of  Rome,  and  entered  upon  his  career  of  reform. 
A.  D.  1517. 

To  enter  upon  any  thing  like  a  circumstantial  detail 
of  the  history  of  the  Reformation,  would  not  only  demand 
much  more  space  than  can  be  allotted  to  it  in  the  present 

*  Roscoe's  Life  and  Pontificate  of  Leo  X.  Vol.  L  ch.  i.  The  refe- 
rence is  to  tlie  case  of  Saint  Leo  IX 


SECT.  II.]     State  of  the  Waldensian  Churches.  221 

undertaking,  but  would  also,  in  a  great  measure,  be  to  de- 
part from  my  leading  object.  Nor,  indeed,  is  such  a  nar- 
rative called  for  by  the  public  exigence.  Any  deficiency 
of  that  kind  which  may  be  experienced  by  the  readers  of 
the  present  work  may  be  readily  supplied  by  consulting 
the  authors  mentioned  below,*  whose  writings  are  in  the 
hands  of  every  scholar.  Instead,  therefore,  of  treading 
this  beaten  track  over  again,  I  shall  only  remark  upon  it, 
that  the  flame  which  was  kindled  throughout  Europe,  at 
this  time,  by  the  preaching  and  writings  of  Luther  and  his 
associates,  so  completely  occupied  the  attention  of  the  Ca- 
tholic party  for  about  a  dozen  years,  namely,  from  1517 
to  1530,  that  the  Waldenses,  both  in  France  and  Piedmont, 
were,  happily,  in  a  great  measure,  overlooked.  But  a? 
the  conflagration  excited  by  Luther's  hostility  gradually 
subsided,  they  began  again  to  attract  the  notice  of  their 
adversaries,  and  to  come  in  for  an  equal  share  of  their  in- 
veterate malignity ;  of  the  truth  of  which  the  reader  will 
soon  have  before  him  abundant  proof. 

In  the  year  1530,  the  Waldenses  seem  to  have  been  en- 
tirely employed  in  paving  the  way  for  a  more  unreserved 
intercourse  between  them  and  the  German  Reformers. 
Such  of  them  as  resided  in  the  south  of  France,  had,  at 
this  time,  been  sustaining  the  fire  of  papal  persecution,  and 
it  would  seem  that  they  had  not  encountered  it  with  their 
usual  fortitude.  Many  amongst  them  had  been  induced 
to  shrink  from  the  cross ;  and,  to  avoid  its  inconvenience, 
were  fallen  into  the  practice  of  feigning  a  complaisant  kind 
of  acquiescence  with  the  national  forms  of  worship.  Some 
of  the  Waldensian  churches  of  Provence,  appear  to  have 
been  deeply  affiecled  at  seeing  this  Laodicean  conduct  pre- 
vail ;  and  to  bring  the  matter  to  its  proper  bearing,  they 
commissioned  two  of  their  pastors,  viz.  George  Morel  and 
Peter  Burgoine,  to  confer  with  the  other  churches  and  with 

*  Milner's  History  of  the  Christian  Church,  Vol.  IV.  and  V.  Slei- 
dan's  History  of  {\\o  Reformation.  Rohertsori's  History  of  Charles 
V.,&.c.,&c. 

Vol.  II.  2  G 


S32  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [cHc  vi, 

some  of  the  Reformers  upon  that  subject.  They  first  vi~ 
sited  their  sister  churches  in  the  neighbouring  provinces  of 
Dauphiny,  and  from  thence  proceeded  on  their  journey 
towards  Germany,  to  have  a  personal  interview  with  John 
Ecolampadius,  minister  of  Basle,  in  Switzerland ;  with 
Martin  Bucer,  at  Strasbiirgh ;  and  Richard  Haller,  at 
Berne.  The  churches  sent  letters  by  them,  explaining 
their  situation,  and  asking  their  advice.  The  following  is 
an  extract  of  their  letter  to  Ecolampadius. 

Health  be  to  you,  Mr.  Ecolampadius. 
"Whereas  several  persons  have  given  us  to  understand, 
that  He  who  is  able  to  do  all  things  hath  replenished  you 
with  the  blessings  of  his  Holy  Spirit,  as  conspicuously 
appears  by  its  fruits,  we  have  recourse  to  you  from  a  far 
country,  under  the  firm  hope  and  confidence,  that  by  your 
means  the  Holy  Spirit  will  enlighten  our  minds  into  the 
knowledge  of  several  things,  concerning  which  we,  at  pre- 
sent, stand  in  doubt."  They  then  proceed  to  explain  the 
immediate  occasion  of  their  writing — "  We,  poor  instructers 
of  this  small  people,"  say  they,  "have  sustained  for  above 
these  four  hundred  years,  most  severe  and  cruel  persecutions, 
not  without  signal  marks  of  Christ's  favour,  as  all  the 
faithful  can  testify ;  for  he  has  often  interposed  for  the  de- 
liverance of  his  people,  when  under  the  harrow  of  these 
cruel  and  severe  persecutions;  and  we  now  come  unto  you 
for  advice  and  consolation  in  this  our  state  of  distress," 
&.C.,  8ic. 

The  particular  subjects  of -difficulty  and  distress  may  be 
easily  gathered  from  the  letter  which  Ecolampadius  wrote 
them  in  reply,  and  which  is  so  excellent  that  I  shall  here 
insert  it  entire. 

Ecolampadius  wishes  the  grace  of  God,  through  Jesus 
Christ  his  Son,  and  the  Holy  Spirit,  to  his  well-beloved 
brethren  in  Christ,  called  Waldenses. 

"  We  understand  that  the  fear  of  persecution  hath  caused 
you  to  conceal  and  dissemble  your  faith.     Now,  with  the 


SECT.  II.]  Letter  from  Ecolampadius  to  the  Waldenses.  223 

heart  we  believe  unlo  righteousness,  and  with  the  mouth 
confession  is  made  unto  salvation.  But  those  who  are 
afraid  to  confess  Christ  before  the  world,  shall  find  no 
acceptance  with  God  the  FaUier;  for  our  God  is  truth, 
without  any  dissimulation ;  and  as  he  is  a  jealous  God,  he 
cannot  endure  that  any  of  his  servants  should  take  upon 
them  the  yoke  of  Antichrist.  For  there  is  no  fellowship 
or  communion  between  Christ  and  Belial;  and  if  you 
communicate  with  infidels,  by  going  to  their  abominable 
masses,  you  will  there  hear  blasphemies  against  the  death 
and  sufferings  of  Christ.  For  when  they  boast,  that  by 
means  of  such  sacrifices  they  make  satisfaction  to  God  for 
the  sins  of  both  the  living  and  the  dead,  what  naturally 
follows  from  thence,  but  that  Christ  by  his  death  hath  not 
made  sufficient  expiation  and  satisfaction,  and  consequently 
Christ  is  not  Jesus — that  is,  not  a  Saviour,  and  that  he 
died  for  us  in  vain!  That  if  we  participate  of  that  impure 
table,  we  thereby  declare  ourselves  to  be  of  one  and  the 
same  body  with  the  wicked,  however  contrary  we  may 
pretend  it  to  be  to  our  wills  and  inclinations.  And  when 
we  say  Amen  to  their  prayers,  do  we  not  deny  Christ? 

"What  death  ought  we  not  rather  to  undergo;  what 
torture  and  torment  ought  we  not  rather  to  endure — nay 
into  what  abyss  of  wo  and  misery  ought  we  not  rather  to 
plunge  ourselves,  than  by  our  presence  to  testify  our  con- 
sent to,  and  approbation  of,  the  blasphemies  of  the  wicked.'' 
I  know  that  your  infirmity  is  great;  but  those  who  have 
been  taught  that  they  were  redeemed  by  the  blood  of 
Christ,  ought  to  be  more  courageous,  and  always  to  stand 
in  awe  of  Him  who  can  cast  both  body  and  soul  into  hell. 
And  what!  is  it  enough  for  us  to  have  preserved  this  life 
alone?  Shall  this  be  more  precious  to  us  than  that  of 
Christ?  And  are  we  satisfied  with  having  enjoyed  the 
delights  and  pleasures  of  this  world  ?  Are  there  not  crowns 
laid  "before  us,  and  shall  we  flinch  back  and  recoil?  Who 
will  believe  that  our  faith  was  true  and  sincere,  if  it  want 
xeal  and  ardour  in  the  time  of  persecution?     We  beseech 


224  History  of  the  Christian  Church.         [cH.  vl, 

the  Lord  to  increase  your  faith.  But  surely  it  is  better  for 
us  to  lose  our  lives  than  to  be  overcome  by  temptations. 
And,  therefore,  brethren,  I  beseech  you  thoroughly  to  con- 
sider this  matter;  for  if  it  be  lawful  for  us  to  conceal  our 
faith  under  the  tyranny  of  Antichrist,  it  must  be  lawful  so 
to  do  under  that  of  the  Turk,  and,  with  Diocletian,  to 
worship  a  Jupiter  or  a  Venus.  It  would  then  have  been 
lawful  for  Tobit  to  worship  the  calf  in  Bethel — and  what 
then  will  become  of  our  faith  towards  God  ?  If  we  do  not 
pay  to  God  that  honour  which  is  due  to  him,  and  if  our 
lives  be  nothing  else  than  hypocrisy  and  dissimulation, 
he  will  spue  us  out  of  his  mouth,  like  base  and  lukewarm 
wretches.  And  how  shall  we  glorify  the  Lord  in  tlie  midst 
of  sufferings  and  tribulations,  if  we  deny  him.'*  We  must 
not,  brethren,  look  back,  when  once  we  have  put  our  hand 
to  the  plough ;  nor  must  we  yield  to  the  dictates  and  insti- 
gations of  our  flesh,  which,  by  prompting  us  to  sin,  though 
it  may  endure  many  things  that  are  distressing  in  this 
ivorld — may,  after  all,  sufi'er  shipwTeck  in  the  haven." 

This  excellent  letter  came  very  opportunely  to  the  aid 
of  the  poor  persecuted  Waldenses,  who  were  immediately 
called  to  carry  its  principles  into  effect.  Peter  Masson, 
one  of  their  pastors,  and  messenger  of  the  churches  on  this 
occasion,  returning  home,  was  seized  at  Dijon,  and  con- 
demned to  death  as  a  Lutheran.  George  Morel  narrowly 
escaped  with  his  letters  and  papers,  but  arrived  safe  in 
Provence,  where  he  laboured  assiduously  and  with  much 
success  in  re-establishing  the  Waldensian  churches.  But 
I  he  reader  will  best  learn  the  state  of  affairs  among  the 
Waldensian  brethren  in  the  south  of  France,  from  the  year 
1540  to  1550,  by  my  laying  before  him  the  following  ex- 
tracts from  tw  o  eminent  writers,  who  lived  shortly  after  the 
-events  which  they  have  recorded,  and  whose  works  are  of 
imquestionable  veracity;  and  I  the  rather  do  this,  that  I 
may  not  be  suspected  of  any  wish  to  exaggerate  the  san- 
guinary proceedings  of  the  Cathohc  party  against  the 
Waldenses.     The  following  is  Sleidan's  account. 


SECT.  II.]     Shidaii's  account  of  the  fValdenses.  225 

"In  Provence,  in  France,  tliere  are  a  people  called  Wal- 
denses,  who,  by  an  ancient  custom,  acknowledge  not  the 
Pope  of  Rome,  having  always  professed  a  greater  purity 
of  doctrine;  and,  since  Luther  appeared,  eagerly  thirsted 
after  knowledge.  Many  times  had  they  been  complaincil  oi' 
to  the  king,  as  despisers  of  magistrates  and  fomenters  of  re- 
bellion, which  envious,  rather  than  true,  accusation,  is  by 
most  made  use  of  at  this  day.  .They  live  together  in  somt; 
towns  and  villages,  amongst  which  is  ]\Ierindole.  About 
five  years  since,  sentence  was  pronounced  against  them 
in  the  parliament  of  Aix,  the  chief  judicature  of  the  pro- 
vince, '  That  they  shall  all  promiscuously  be  destroyed, 
that  the  houses  shall  be  pulled  down,  the  village  levelled 
with  the  ground,  all  the  trees  also  cut  down,  and  the  place 
rendered  a  desert.'  Now  though  this  sentence  was  pro- 
nounced, yet  it  was  not  then  put  in  execution,  William  de 
Bellay,  of  Langey,  the  king's  lieutenant  in  Piedmont,  widi 
some  others,  having  represented  the  matter  to  the  king,  at^ 
a  case  that  ought  to  be  reviewed  by  himsel^l  But,  at 
length,  this  year,  1545,  John  Meinier,  president  of  the 
parliament  of  Aix,  having,  April  12th,  called  the  parlia- 
ment, read  to  them  the  king's  letters,  which  warranted  him 
to  put  the  sentence  into  execution.  Now  Meinier  is  said 
to  have  procured  these  letters  by  means  of  the  Cardinal 
of  Tournon,  and  the  solicitation  of  Philip  Cortine,  a  pro- 
per agent  in  the  case.  However,  having  received  them  in 
the  month  of  January,  he  did  not  immediately  produce 
them,  but  kept  them  till  a  season  more  proper  for  the  ex- 
ploit. The  letters  being  read,  some  of  the  parliament 
were  selected  to  see  the  matter  put  in  execution,  to  whom 
Meinier  oflered  himself  as  assistant,  because  that  in  the 
absence  of  Grignian,  the  governor  of  the  provuice,  be  had 
the  chief  command.  Before  tiiat  time,  he  had  by  the  king's 
orders  raised  forces  for  the  English  war,  and  these  he 
made  use  of  for  his  purpose :  besides  these,  he  commanded 
all  that  were  able  to  carry  arms  in  Marseilles,  Aix, 
Aries,  and  other  populous  places,   to  repair  to  him.  under 


226  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [cH.  vi. 

severe  penalties,  if  they  disobeyed,  having  assistance  like- 
wise sent  him  from  tiie  country  of  Avignon,  under  the  do- 
minion of  the  Pope.  The  first  attempt  then  was  not  made 
upon  those  of  Merindole,  but  upon  the  country  adjoining  the 
town  of  Pertuse.  April  the  thirteenth,  Meinier,  attended  by  a 
multitude  of  gentlemen  and  officers,  came  to  Cadenet.  In  the 
mean-time  some  officers  made  an  irruption  into  one  or  two 
villages  upon  the  river  of  La  Druance,  and  putting  all  to 
fire  and  sword,  plundered  and  carried  away  a  great  many 
cattle.  The  same  also  was  done  in  other  places,  whilst 
those  of  Merindole  seeing  all  in  a  flame  about  them,  left 
their  habitations,  flew  into  the  woods,  and  in  great  conster- 
nation spent  the  night  at  the  village  of  Sainfalaise.  The 
inhabitants  of  that  place  were  themselves  preparing  to  fly ; 
for  the  pope's  vice-legate  had  ordered  some  officers  to  fall 
upon  them,  and  put  them  to  the  sword.  Next  day  they 
advanced  farther  into  the  woods  ;  for  they  were  beset  on 
all  hands  with  danger,  Meinier  having  made  it  death  for 
any  person  to  aid  or  assist  them,  and  commanding  thera 
all,  without  respect,  to  be  killed  wherever  they  were  found. 
The  same  edict  was  in  force  in  the  neighbouring  places  of 
the  Pope's  jurisdiction,  and  some  bishops  of  that  country 
were  reported  to  have  maintained  a  great  part  of  those 
forces.  They  had  a  tedious  and  uneasy  journey  of  it  then, 
marching  with  their  children  on  their  backs  and  their  arms, 
nay,  and  some  in  the  cradle,  poor  women  also  big  with 
child  following  them.  When  they  were  got  to  the  appoint- 
ed place,  whither  many  in  that  forlorn  condition  had  fled, 
they  had  intelligence  not  long  after,  that  Meinier  was  mus- 
tering together  all  his  forces,  that  he  might  fall  upon  them  ; 
and  this  news  they  learnt  towards  the  evening.  Wherefore, 
consulting  together  what  was  best  to  be  done,  they  resolved 
.upon  the  spot,  because  the  ways  were  rough  and  difficult, 
to  leave  their  wives,  daughters,  and  little  children  there, 
with  some  few  to  bear  them  company,  amongst  whom  was 
one  of  their  ministers,  and  the  rest  betook  themselves  to 
the  town  of  Mus  :  this  they  did  in  hope,  that  the  enemy 


SECT.  II.]  Destruction  of  the  village  of  Merindolc.         227 

might  show  some  compassion  towards  a  helpless  and  com- 
fortless  multitude.     But  what    wailing    and    lamentation, 
what  sighing  and  embracing,  there  was  at  parting,  any  man 
may  easily  imagine.     Having  marched  all  night  long,  and 
passed   the  mountain  De  Leberon,  they  had  the  sad  pros- 
pect of  many  villages  and  farms  all  in  a  flame.     Meinier, 
in  the  mean-time,  having  divided  his  forces,  set  about  the 
work ;  and,  because  he  had  got  intelligence  of  the  place  to 
which  those  of  Merindole  had  betaken  themselves,  he  him- 
self marched  to  Merindole,  and  sent  the  rest  of  his  men  in 
search  and  pursuit  of  them.     But,  before  these  were  come 
into  the  wood,  one  of  the  soldiers,  moved  with  pity,  ran 
before,  and  from  the  top  of  a  rock,  in  the  place  where  he 
judged  the  poor  fugitives  might  have  rested,  he  threw  down 
two  stones,  calling  to  them  by  intervals,  though  he  did  not 
see  them,  that  they  should  instantly  fly  for  their  lives.    And 
at  the  same  instant,  two  of  those  who  had  betaken  them- 
selves to  Mus  came ;  and  having  got  notice  of  the  enemies 
approach,  advised  the  minister  of  the  church,  and  the  rest 
of  those  few  guards  that  were  left  with  the  women,  to  be 
gone,  having  showed  them  a  steep  way  through  the  woodj 
by  which    they  might  escape  all  danger  in   their   flight. 
Hardly  were  these  gone,  when  the  raging  soldiers  came  in 
shouting  and  making  a  frightful  noise,  with  drawn  swords 
preparing  for  the  butchery.     However,  at  that  time  they 
forebore  to  kill,  but  having  committed  many  insolences,  and 
robbed  the  poor  creatures  of  all  their  money  and  provi- 
sions, they  carried  them  away  prisoners.     They  had  pur- 
posed to  have   used  them   more  basely,  but  a  captain  of 
horse  prevented  it,  who  by  chance  coming  in,  threatened 
them,  and  commanded  them  to  march  straight  to  Meinier ; 
so  that  they  proceeded  no  farther,  but  leaving  the  women 
there,  who  were  about  five  hundred  in  number,  they  carried 
ofi"  the  cattle  and  booty.     In  the  mean-time  Meinier  came 
to  Merindole,  and  finding  it  forsaken  by  the  inhabitants,  he 
plundered  and  set  it  on  fire,  which  was  ushered  in  by  a 
very  cruel  action  j  for  having  found  there  one  single  youth, 


228  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [ch.  vi. 

he  commanded  liim  to  be  tied  to  an  olive  tree,  and  there 
shot  to  death.  He  marched  next  to  Cabriere,  and  began 
to  batter  the  town  ;  but,  by  the  mediation  of  Captain  Pou- 
lain,  he  persuaded  the  towns-people,  upon  promise  of  in- 
demnity, to  open  the  gates ;  which  being  done,  and  the 
soldiers  let  in,  after  a  little  pause,  all  were  put  to  the  sword, 
without  respect  to  age  or  sex.  Many  fled  to  the  church, 
others  to  other  places,  and  some  into  the  wine  cellar  of  the 
castle ;  but  being  dragged  out  into  a  meadow,  and  stript 
naked,  they  were  all  put  to  the  sword,  not  only  the  men, 
but  also  the  women,  and  many  of  these  with  child  too. 
Meinier  also  shut  up  about  forty  women  in  a  barn  full  of 
hay  and  straw,  and  then  set  it  on  fire  ;  and  after  that,  the 
poor  creatures  having  attempted,  in  vain,  to  smother  the 
fire  with  their  clothes,  which  for  that  end  they  had  pulled 
off,  betook  themselves  to  the  great  window,  at  which  the 
hay  is  commonly  pitched  up  into  the  barn,  with  an  inten- 
tion to  leap  down  from  thence,  they  were  kept  in  with 
pikes  and  spears,  so  that  all  of  them  perished  in  the  flames  ; 
and  this  happened  on  the  twentieth  of  April.  Meinier 
after  this  sent  part  of  his  forces  to  besiege  the  town  of 
Coste ;  but  when  they  were  just  upon  their  march,  those 
were  found,  who,  as  we  said  a  little  before,  had  fled  into 
the  wine  cellar  of  the  castle  :  a  noise  being  thereupon 
raised,  as  if  there  had  been  some  ambush  laid,  the  soldiers 
were  recalled,  who  put  every  man  of  them  to  the  sword. 
The  number  of  the  slain,  as  well  in  the  town  as  abroad  in 
the  fields,  amounted  to  eight  hundred !  The  young  infants, 
which  survived  the  fury,  were  for  the  most  part  rebaptized 
by  the  enemy.  Affairs  thus  despatched  at  Cabriere,  the 
forces  were  sent  to  Coste  :  the  lord  of  that  town  had  before- 
hand agreed  with  the  inhabitants,  that  they  should  carry 
their  arms  into  the  castle,  and  in  four  places  make  breaches 
in  the  walls  ;  which  if  they  did,  he  promised  them  that  he 
would  use  his  interest,  which  he  knew  could  easily  prevail 
with  Meinier,  that  they  should  receive  no  damage.  Being 
over  persuaded,  they  obeyed ;  and  he  departed  with  a  pur~ 


SECT.  II.]   Cruelties  of  the  Catholics  at  Mcrindole.         229 

pose  seemingly  to  treat  and  intercede  for  them  ;  but  he  was 
not  gone  far  before  the  soldiers  met  him,  who  nevertlielcss 
proceeded  in  their  march,  and  attacked  the  place.  At  the 
first  onset  they  did  but  little,  but  next  day  they  more  briskly 
renewed  the  assault;  and  having  burnt  all  the  suburbs 
about,  they  easily  became  masters  of  the  place,  and  the 
rather,  diat  die  night  before,  most  had  deserted  the  town 
and  fled,  having  got  down  over' the  walls  by  ropes.  After 
the  victorious  had  put  all  that  stood  in  their  way  to  fire 
and  sword,  they  ran  into  a  garden  adjoining  the  castle,  and 
there  satiated  their  lust  upon  the  women  and  young  girls 
promiscuously,  who  in  great  fear  and  consternation  had 
fled  thither ;  and  for  a  day  and  night's  time,  that  they  kept 
them  shut  up  there,  so  inhumanly  and  barbarously  did  they 
use  them,  that  the  pregnant  women  and  younger  girls 
shortly  after  died  of  it.  In  the  me  ui-time  the  Merindo- 
lians,  and  many  others  who  wandered  with  them  over  the 
woods  and  rocks,  being  taken,  were  either  sent  to  the  gal- 
leys, or  put  to  death,  and  many  also  were  starved.  Not 
far  also  from  the  town  of  Mus,  as  we  mentioned  before,  some 
five  and  twenty  men  had  got  into  a  cave,  and  kept  lurking 
there,  but  being  betrayed,  all  of  them  were  either  smother- 
ed with  smoke,  or  burnt  :  so  that  no  kind  of  cruelty  was 
omitted.  Some,  however,  that  had  escaped  this  butchery, 
got  to  Geneva,  and  the  places  thereabouts.  When  the 
news  of  this  was  brought  into  Germany,  many  were  highly 
offended  thereat ;  and  the  Swiss,  who  are  not  ol  the  Popish 
religion,  interceded  with  the  French  king,  that  he  would 
be  merciful  to  those  who  had  fled  their  country.  But 
the  king  answered  them,  that  he  had  just  cause  for  what 
he  iiad  done;  and  that  what  he  did  within  his  own  territo- 
ries, and  how  he  punished  the  guilty,  concerned  them  no 
more  to  know,  than  it  did  him  what  was  done  amongst 
them."* 

*  Sleidaa's  History  of  the  Refortnation,  b.  xvi. 
Vol.  II.  2  H 


230  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [cH.  vi. 

I  cannot  better  close  this  section  than  by  an  extract 
from  an  eminent  Catholic  writer,  who  was  cotemporary 
with  the  dreadful  occurrences  which  he  has  so  impartially 
recorded ;  and  notwithstanding  its  length,  and  also  that  it 
touches  upon  some  particulars  already  adverted  to  by  Slei- 
dan,  I  persuade  myself  that  its  importance  and  interesting 
nature  will  more  than  compensate  for  its  prolixity. 

"  When  the  inhabitants  of  Merindole  and  Cabriere,  at 
the  report  of  those  things  which  were  done  in  Germany, 
lifted  up  their  crests,  and  hiring  teachers  out  of  Germany, 
discovered  themselves  more  manifestly  than  they  had  done 
before,  they  were  brought  to  judgment  by  the  parliament  of 
Aix,  at  the  instance  of  the  king's  procurator  5  but  being 
admonished  by  their  friends  and  deterred  by  the  danger 
which  undoubtedly  attended  their  trial,  they  failed  to  ap- 
pear. And  having  been  summoned  for  three  market-days 
together,  they  were  condemned  as  contumacious,  by  a  most 
horrible  and  immeasurably  cruel  sentence,  on  the  18th  day 
of  November,  about  the  3'ear  1540,  Bartholomew  la  Chas- 
sagne,  a  lawyer  of  great  reputation,  being  at  that  time  pre- 
sident of  the  parliament.  By  that  decree  the  fathers  of 
families  were  condemned  to  the  flames,  and  the  estates, 
wives,  children,  and  servants  of  the  condemned  parties  con- 
fiscated to  the  use  of  the  treasury.  And  because  Merindole 
had  hitherto  been  the  usual  den  and  receptacle  of  such  sort 
of  infected  persons,  it  was  ordered,  that  all  the  houses 
should  be  laid  level  with  the  ground,  that  the  subterraneous 
caves  and  vaults,  where  they  might  be  concealed,  should 
be  demoHshed  and  filled  up ;  that  the  wood  round  about  it 
should  be  cut  down,  and  even  the  very  trees  of  the  gar- 
dens ;  that  the  possessions  of  those  who  dwelt  at  Merin- 
dole should  not  be  so  much  as  let  for  the  future  to  any  of  the 
•same  family,  or  even  of  the  same  name,  with  the  former 
owners.  The  execution  of  this  cruel  decree  was  committed 
to  the  ordinary  judges  of  Aix,  Tournes,  St.  Maximim,  and 
Apt ;  but  it  was  thought  by  most  people  very  proper  to  be 


SECT.  II.]  Speech  of  JVicolas  Aliens.  231 

suspended,  until  in  process  of  time  the  sentence  issued 
against  the  absent  and  contumacious,  should  pass  by  the 
laws  and  customs  of  the  realm  into  a  definite  sentence. 
Others,  on  the  contrary,  judiied  it  more  fit  to  be  precipita- 
ted, out  of  haired  to  the  crime,  and  regard  to  the  danger 
which  that  contagion  certainly  threatened,  if  any  delay 
were  interposed.  In  the  first  place  the  bishops  of  Aix  and 
Aries  pressed  Chassagne  to  probeed  against  the  rebels  with 
an  armed  force,  promising,  in  their  own  and  the  name  of 
the  other  ecclesiastics,  a  great  sum  of  money  towards  the 
expenses  of  that  war.  Whilst  they  disputed  on  each  side 
with  great  warmth,  the  matter  was  put  ofl',  by  a  method  ri- 
diculous enough  in  itself,  but  well  accommodated  to  the 
person  with  whom  it  was  used.  There  was  at  Aix,  Nicolas 
Aliens,  a  gentleman  of  Aries,  of  great  respectability,  and  not 
unskilled  in  letters,  an  intimate  friend  of  Chassagne's,  who, 
shocked  at  the  injustice  of  the  decree,  and  greatly  desiring 
to  have  it  respited,  at  a  private  conference,  addressed  him- 
self to  the  wavering  president  in  the  following  speech. 

"'You  are  not  ignorant  of  the  discourses  which  every 
where  pass  in  relation  to  the  sentence  lately  issued  against 
the  inhabitants  of  Merindole ;  nor  is  it  my  business  or  in- 
clination to  give  my  opinion  of  them  ;  well  knowing  how 
important  it  is  to  a  well  ordered  commonwealth,  that  judg- 
ments should  be  solemnly  regarded,  and  not  rashly  called 
in  question.  But  if  we  consider  the  magnitude  of  the  af- 
fair, it  seems  worthy  of  inquiry,  whether  the  execution 
ought  not  to  be  deferred,  and  the  bitterness  of  the  sentence 
mitigated,  by  the  advantage  of  a  delay.  As  various  and 
very  considerable  reasons  may  be  alleged  for  that  delay,  I 
have  determined  to  treat  familiarly  with  you,  by  the  help 
of  your  own  arguments,  agreeably  to  that  intimacy  which 
subsists  between  us.  Do  you  not  remember,  whilst  you 
were  yet  sitting  only  on  the  lower  bench  of  justice  at  Au- 
tun,  what  you  formerly  thought  in  the  case  of  the  mice  ^ 
For  you  have  even  published  a  narrative  of  it  j  and  such  is 
your  modesty  and  candour,  ihat  I  have  observed  you  to 


232  History  of  the  Christian  Church.        [ch.  ti, 

call  to  mind  the  transactions  of  those  times  with  pleasure. 
This  is  the  account  you  give.     When,  in  the  bailliage  of 
Autun,  a  great  multitude  of  mice  had  done  much  damage 
by  eating  the  corn,  the  country  people  could  think  of  no 
more  immediate  remedy  for  this  new  disaster,  than  that  the 
bishop  or  his  vicar  should  exc^ommunicate  the  mice.     The 
aflair  then  being  laid  before  the  bishop's  vicar,  he  was  of 
opinion,  that  the  crier  of  the  court  should  give  them  three 
citations ;  which  done,  he  was  still  unwilling  to  pronounce 
sentence,  till  the  mice  had  an  advocate  assigned  them,  who 
should  plead  for  them  in  their  absence.      You,  therefore, 
undertook  the  patronage  of  the  mice,  and  in  that  case,  in 
pursuance  of  the  character  which  you   sustained,  you  by 
many  arguments  persuaded  the  judges,  that  the  mice  had 
not  been  regularly  summoned ;  you  obtained  for  them  that 
a  fresh  day  should  be  set  them  by  the  curates  of  the  respec- 
tive parishes,  forasmuch  as  the  lives  of  ail  the  mice  were 
concerned  in  the  issue  of  that  trial.      And  when  you  had 
gained  that  point,  you  again  showed,  that  too  short  a  time 
had  been  given  them,  considering  that  the  mice  who  were 
to  appear  were  waylaid  in  every  village  by  the  cats.      You 
then  brought  many  things  out  of  the  Holy  Scriptures  in 
defence  of  your  clients,  and  prevailed  at  length  to  have  a 
longer  time  assigned  them,  in  which  proceeding  you  ac- 
quired great  reputation  for  equit\'  and  knowledge  of  the 
law.     1  now  call  you  to  your  own  book,  and  3  our  own  ar- 
guments.    For  what  can  sound  harsher  in  the  ears  of  man- 
kind, than  that  you,  who  in  the  case  of  mice  thought  the 
due  course  of  judgment  proper  to  be  observed,  should  think 
it  fit  to  be  perverted  in  a  cause  wherein  the  life,  safety,  and 
fortunes  of  men  are  concerned.       Beware,  therefore,  lest 
you  incur  the  fault  of  those  fencing-masters,  who,  when 
they  fight  at  blunts,  observe  the  rules  of  the  science,  and 
often  come  off"  conquerors;  but  when  they  are  to  draw  their 
sword  against  an  enemy,  are  either   so   enraged  or  con- 
founded that  they  forget  their  art,  and  generally  suffer 
themselves  to  be  stabbed.      What  you  observed  in  that  lu- 


SECT.  II.]  Mice  excommunicated.  233 

dicrous  process,  when  you  were  yet  but  a  youth,  and  Utile 
better  than  a  private  person,  will  you  neglect  in  so  serious 
an  affair,  at  that  age,  and  in  that  station,  wherein  you  have 
raised  such  an  universal  opinion  of  yourself.''  Are  the  lives 
of  so  many  wretched  men  so  cheap  a  thing,  that  they  shall 
find  a  harder  fate  at  your  hands,  now  you  are  judge,  than 
the  mice  foi-merly  experienced  under  your  patronage."*  I 
do  not  speak  of  their  innocence".  But  you  yoursell' know 
how  many  things  they  are  maliciously  and  wrongfully 
charged  with,  and  that  in  other  respects  they  are  dihgent 
worshippers  of  God,  and  never  refuse  to  pay  their  land- 
lords their  dues,  nor  to  yield  tribute  or  obedience  to  the 
prince  or  the  magistrate.  Therefore,  by  the  friendship 
which  is  betwixt  us,  I  conjure  you  again  and  again  mature- 
ly to  weigh  these  reasons,  and  to  persuade  yourself,  that  in 
a  cause  which  respects  the  life,  and  death,  and  fortunes  of 
men,  no  delay  can  be  too  long.'* 

" By  this  speech  Aliens  prevailed  with  Chassagne  to  re- 
spite the  business  and  to  dismiss  the  troops  which  had 
already  rendezvoused  in  great  numbers,  until  he  could  know 
the  mind  of  the  kingj  who  being  informed  of  the  decree 
by  William  du  Bellay  Sieur  de  Langey,  lieutenant  general 


*  That  this  whimsical  circumslance,  namely,  the  excommunication 
of  the  mice  by  the  spiritual  court,  actually  took  place,  as  related  by 
our  author,  can  admit  of  no  reasonable  doubt  ;  nor,  indeed,  that 
the  cause  of  the  poor  mice  was  successfully  pleaded  by  this  eminent 
counsellor.  The  question,  however,  will  naturallj-  strike  a  reflecting 
mind,  "•  Were  the  inhabitants  of  the  country,  who  indicted  the  mice  for 
misdemeanor,,really  in  earnest  in  this  ludicrous  atfair ;  or  was  it  only 
what,  in  modern  style,  is  called  a  hoax  upon  the  clergy  ?"  For  myself, 
I  have  little  doubt  that  the  latter  was  the  case  ;  and  that  both  the  in- 
dictment and  the  pleadings  of  the  counsel  were  designed  to  burlesque 
the  proceedings  of  the  Catholic  clei-gy,  in  their  treatment  oftlie  here- 
tics. The  main  difliculty  is  to  believe  that  the  clergy  themselves 
could  be  so  stupid  as  not  to  see  it  in  this  light.  And  I  am  perfectly 
aware  that,  in  the  present  enlightened  tera,  a  historian  is  in  danger  of 
shocking  the  credibility  of  his  readers  even  while  he  impartially  relates 
the  mummery  that  was  prevalent  among  the  Catholics  of  those  days  : 
witness  the  feast  of  the  ass,  mentioned  in  my  first  volume. 


234  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [ch.  vi. 

in  Piedmont,  commanded  the  latter  to  inform  himself  of 
the  case,  and  to  transmit  him  an  accomit  of  it.  Accord- 
ingly, after  due  inquiry,  he  made  this  discovery,  that  the 
Vaudois,  or  Waldenses,  were  a  people,  who  about  three 
hundred  years  before  had  hired,  of  the  owners,  a  rocky  and 
uncultivated  part  of  the  countr}',  which,  by  dint  of  pains 
and  constant  tillage,  they  had  rendered  productive  of  fruits 
and  fit  for  cattle;  that  they  were  extremely  patient  of  la- 
bour and  want;  abhorring  all  contentions;  kind  to  the 
poor ;  that  they  paid  the  prince's  taxes,  and  their  lords' 
dues,  with  the  greatest  exactness  and  fidelity ;  that  they 
kept  up  a  show  of  divine  worship  by  daily  prayer  and  in- 
nocence of  manners;  but  seldom  came  to  the  churches  of 
the  saints,  unless  by  chance  when  they  went  to  the  neigh- 
bouring towns  for  traffic  or  other  business ;  and  whenever 
they  set  their  feet  in  them,  they  paid  no  adorations  to  the 
statues  of  God  or  the  saints,  nor  brought  them  any  ta- 
pers or  other  presents;  nor  ever  entreated  the  priests 
to  say  mass  for  them,  or  the  souls  of  their  relations ;  nor 
crossed  their  foreheads,  as  is  the  manner  of  others;  that 
when  it  thundered  they  never  sprinkled  themselves  with 
holy  water,  but  lifting  up  their  eyes  to  heaven,  implored 
the  assistance  of  God;  that  they  never  made  religious 
pilgrimages,  nor  uncovered  their  heads  in  the  public  ways 
before  the  crucifixes;  that  they  performed  their  worship  in 
a  strange  manner,  and  in  the  vulgar  tongue;  and  lastly, 
paid  no  honour  to  the  Pope  or  the  bishops,  but  esteemed 
some  select  persons  of  their  own  number  as  priests  and 
doctors.  When  this  report  was  made  to  Francis,  on  the 
eighth  day  of  February,  he  dispatched  an  arret  to  the 
parliament  of  Aix,  wherein,  having  pardoned  all  past 
crimes,  he  allowed  the  Waldenses  the  space  of  three  months, 
within  which  time  they  were  required  publicly  to  revoke 
their  opinions:  and  that  it  might  be  known  who  they  were 
that  w  ere  willing  to  reap  the  benefit  of  the  amnesty,  it  was  or- 
dered that  chosen  persons  out  of  the  towns  and  villages  should 
appear  at  Aix,  in  tlie  name  of  the  rest  of  the  multitude,  and 


SECT  II.]  Humane  conduct  of  Sadoletus.  235 

publicly  abjure  their  error:  if  they  persisted  in  it,  the  par- 
liament were  im powered  and  commanded  to  punish  them 
after  the  example  of  former  ages,  and  if  need  were,  to  call 
in  the  military  officers  to  their  aid.  The  arret  hew(r  read 
in  the  senate,  Francis  Chais  and  William  Armand  came  to 
Aix,  in  the  name  of  the  people  of  jMerindole,  and  presented 
a  petition  to  the  parliament,  that  the  cause  might  be  re- 
heard and  examined  by  a  disputation  of  divines;  contend- 
ing that  it  was  unjust,  that  before  they  were  convicted, 
they  should  confess  themselves  heretics,  or  be  condemned 
unheard.  La  Chassagne,  in  whose  breasi  his  frientl's 
advice  had  made  a  deep  impression,  calling  aside  the  de- 
puties in  the  presence  of  the  king's  advocates,  admonished 
them  to  acknowledge  their  error,  and  not  by  their  excessive 
obstinacy  lay  the  judges  under  the  necessity  of  dealing 
with  them  more  h<irsh]ythan  agreed  with  thtir  inclinations: 
but  as  they  still  contiimed  to  press  La  Chassagne  to  take 
cognizance  of  their  opinions,  he  at  length  obtained  of  those 
stubborn  people,  that  they  should  present  the  heads  of  their 
doctrine  to  the  parliament,  who  would  transmit  them  to 
his  majesty.  The  townsmen  of  Cabrleres,  in  the  county 
of  Venaiscin,  were  attacked  at  the  same  time  by  those  of 
Avignon;  and,  as  they  were  all  concerned  in  ihe  common 
danger,  they  drew  up  a  common  profession  of  their  religion, 
resembling  Luther's  in  most  points,  and  sent  one  copy  to 
Francis,  who  put  it  into  the  hands  of  Chastellain  to  be  ex- 
amined by  him,  and  another  to  Cardinal  James  Sadoiet, 
bishop  of  Carpentras;  who,  being  of  a  pious  and  mild 
disposition,  received  the  suppliants  with  great  hui.ianity, 
and  ingenuously  declared,  that  whatever  else  they  were 
charged  with,  beyond  what  was  contained  in  that  book, 
were  mere  slanders  invented  to  create  them  ill-v/ill;  for 
that  after  a  thorough  inquiry  he  had  gained  a  perfect 
knowledge  of  that  matter:  but  that  in  the  book  which  was 
offered,  there  seemed  to  be  many  things  which  might  be 
mended  by  a  small  alteration,  and  others,  reflecting  upon 
the  Pope  and  the  prelates,  which  might  be  corrected  by  a 


236  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [ch.  vi. 

more  temperate  style ;  that  however  he  wished  them  well^ 
and  that  it  would  never  be  with  his  good  liking,  if  they 
were  treated  in  a  hostile  manner;  and  that  he  would  repair, 
by  the  first  opportunity,  to  his  seat  at  Cabrieres,  and  ex- 
amine the  whole  aflair  upon  the  spot.  Besides  these  ex- 
pressions, he  showed  them  real  marks  of  a  favourable  and 
sincere  regard,  by  repressing  the  deputy  of  Avignon,  who 
was  advancing  with  an  armed  force,  and  admonishing  him 
to  retire.  The  confession  of  the  people  of  Merindole 
being  exhibited,  by  a  decree  of  parliament,  John  Durandi 
and  the  Bishop  of  Cavaillon,  with  some  other  divines,  went 
to  Merindole,  to  convince  the  poor  villagers  of  their  error, 
and  to  grant  a  pardon  to  such  as  should,  upon  oath,  re- 
nounce it:  but  although  they  continued  in  their  obstinate 
spirit  of  opposition,  yet,  as  long  as  Chassagne  lived,  no 
violence  was  employed  against  them,  because  the  king  had 
taken  to  himself  the  cognizance  of  the  whole  matter :  but 
when  he  was  carried  off  by  a  sudden  death,  and  succeeded 
by  John  Meinier,  baron  Oppede,  (a  vehement  man,  and 
one,  who  for  certain  affronts  received  from  the  people  of 
Cabrieres,  to  whom  some  of  his  farms  were  adjoining,  was 
their  bitter  enemy,)  the  hatred  against  the  Waldenses  was 
renewed.  This  nobleman,  in  the  absence  of  Lewis  des 
Emars,  count  of  Grignan,  who  had  been  sent  by  the  king 
to  the  diet  of  Worms,  took  upon  himself  the  chief  com- 
mand in  Provence,  and  assured  Francis,  by  letters,  that 
the  Waldenses  were  met  together  to  the  number  of  sixteen 
thousand  men,  with  a  design  to  seize  Marseilles,  and  to 
raise  commotions  in  Provence.  He  also  sent  Philip  Cour- 
tin,  apparitor  of  the  court,  to  demand,  in  the  name  of  the 
king's  advocate,  that  the  judgment  given  against  the  re- 
bels might  be  put  in  execution.  The  king,  exasperated 
by  tins  information,  and  being  further  instigated  by  the 
Cardmal  De  Tournon,  a  kinsman  to  Grignan,  and  a  bitter 
enemy  to  this  sort  of  men,  sent  letters  to  the  parliament,  in 
the  month  of  January,  in  the  year  1545,  whereby  he  per- 
mitted them  to  proceed  against  the  Merindoliaas  and  the 


SECT.  II.]  Attack  on  the  Waldenses  in  Provence.  237 

rest  of  the  Waldenses,  according  to  law:  and  when  the 
states  of  the  empire,  by  their  letters  from  Ratisbon,  and  the 
Protestant  Swiss  cantons  were  urgent,  that  not  only  the 
penalty,  but  the  condition  of  acknowledging  their  error 
might  be  remitted,  because  thereby  force  was  offered  to 
resolution  and  conscience,  he  constantly  denied  their  re- 
quest; and  when  afterwards  he  was  pressed  by  them  to  be 
merciful  to  the  dispersed  remains  of  those  people,  he  bluntly 
answered,  that  they  ought  not  to  trouble  themselves  with 
what  he  did  in  his  own  country,  or  how  he  piuiished  de- 
linquents, any  more  than  he  concerned  himself  with  their 
affairs.  IMeinier,  therefore,  having  received  those  orders, 
kept  them  by  him  for  some  time,  in  expectation  of  a  fairer 
opportunity:  for  in  the  mean-while  levies  were  made  every 
where  under  the  pretence  of  the  English  war,  and  he  would 
not  suffer  the  secret  to  be  divulged,  that  so  he  might  fall 
upon  them  unawares.  But  when  things  were  in  rejidiness, 
and  he  had  under  severe  penalties  summoned  all  those  who 
were  capable  of  bearing  arms  at  Aix,  Aries,  Marseilles, 
ai>''  other  populous  towns,  to  come  into  the  field;  and  when 
six  companies  of  foot,  with  a  squadron  of  horse,  com- 
muiided  by  Poulain,  and  other  auxiliary  troops  from 
Pir'dmont  and  Avignon  were  already  assembled,  the  royal 
leuers  which  had  been  hitherto  suppressed,  were  read  in 
parliament:  whereupon  the  senators,  upon  the  12th  of 
April,  decreed  tiie  execution  of  the  sentence  passed  upon 
the  people  of  Merindole;  and  the  business  was  committed 
to  the  president,  Francis  de  la  Fous,  with  the  counsellors 
Honore  de  Triljutiis,  and  Bernard  de  Badet,  to  whom  was 
joined  Nicholas  Guerin  the  king's  advocate,  and  principal 
incendiary  of  the  war.  Oppede,  the  day  following,  ac- 
companied with  a  great  body  of  nobles,  repaired  to  the 
army  at  Cadenet,  bringing  with  him  four  hundred  pioneers. 
The  first  attrtck  was  made  upon  the  country  adjoining  to 
the  town  of  Pertuys;  the  viliages  of  Pupin,  La  Mote, 
and  St.  Martin,  near  the  Durance;  these  were  taken,  pil- 
laged, and  set  on  fire.  On  the  following  day  the  little 
Vol.11.  2  1 


238  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [cH.  vi, 

towns  of  Ville-Laure,  Lounnarin,  Gensson,  Trezemines, 
and  La  Roque,  from  whence  the  multitude  had  fled,  were 
cruelly  burnt,  and  all  the  cattle  driven  away.  Then  Op- 
pede  consulted  about  attacking  Merindole;  but  when  the 
inhabitants  saw  the  country  round  about  in  flames,  they 
fled  into  the  neighbouring  woods  with  their  wives  and 
children;  which  exhibited  a  most  lamentable  spectacle, 
for  in  those  by-ways  were  to  be  seen  marching  old  men 
mixed  with  boys,  and  women  carrying  their  crying  infants 
in  cradles,  or  in  their  arms  or  laps.  They  rested  the  first 
night  at  Sanfalaise,  where  also  the  inhabitants  were  pre- 
paring all  things  for  a  flight,  because  they  knew  that  the 
Bishop  of  Cavaillon,  the  Pope's  legate,  had  ordered  his  men 
to  massacre  them.  The  next  day  they  advanced  farther 
under  the  security  of  the  thick  woods,  full  of  fears  from  every 
other  quarter:  for  Oppede  had  outlawed  the  Waldenses, 
and  had  ordered,  under  pain  of  death,  that  none  should 
give  them  any  relief,  but  that,  wherever  they  were  found, 
they  should  (without  respect  to  age  or  sex)  be  all  murdered. 
And  now,  after  an  excessively  long  journey,  they  had 
reached  their  appointed  station,  the  women  being  hardly 
able  to  stand  under  the  burthen  of  their  big  bellies,  or 
children ;  and  many  others,  who  had  left  their  habitations, 
had  flocked  together  at  the  same  place,  when  towards  night 
they  were  informed  that  Meinier  was  at  hand  with  all  his 
forces.  Hereupon  they  were  obliged  to  take  counsel  on  a 
sudden  ;  and  leaving  there  the  women  and  all  the  feeble 
part  of  their  company,  whom  they  imagined  the  enemy 
would  spare,  put  themselves  again  on  the  way,  whilst  no- 
thing could  be  heard  but  the  most  dismal  groans,  with  the 
lamentations  and  screamings  of  the  women,  which  were 
re-echoed  by  the  mountains  and  woods,  and  all  things  were 
in  the  utmost  hurry  and  confusion.  When  they  liad  spent 
the  whole  night  in  travelling,  at  last  climbing  over  mount 
Lubieres,  and  seeing  the  villages  every  where  in  flames  and 
the  farms  deserted,  they  proceeded  to  the  town  of  Mus  : 
here  Oppede  divided  his  troops  into  two  parts,  one  of  which 


SECT.  II.]  Cruelties  at  Cabrieres.  239 

he  sent  to  pursue  the  fugitives,  for  he  had  been  informed  of 
their  flight  by  certain  spies,  and  the  other  he  took  with  him 
to  Merindole.  At  that  juncture  one  of  Oppede's  men, 
touched  with  compassion,  ran  before,  and  from  the  top  of 
the  rock,  where  he  guessed  the  Merindolians  were  settled, 
flung  down  two  stones,  and  in  the  interval  called  out  to 
them  with  a  miserable  voice,  to  save  themselves  by  flight : 
immediately  some  persons  went  out  of  Mus,  to  order  the 
pastor  and  the  guides,  who  were  left  with  the  unarmed  mul- 
titude, to  escape,  showing  them  a  by-way  through  the 
brambles ;  and  not  long  after  Oppede's  men  appeared,  and 
full  of  rage,  with  drawn  swords,  demanded  the  slaughter 
of  the  whole  company;  they  were  preparing  to  use  the 
women  in  a  still  viler  manner,  but  were  hindered  by  a  cap- 
tain, who  threatened  them  with  death,  if  they  did  not  for- 
bear :  so  after  they  had  stripped  them  and  drove  away  their 
cattle,  they  departed.  Oppede  entered  the  town  of  Merin- 
dole, now  destitute  of  inhabitants,  and  finding  there  only 
one  youth,  Maurice  Blanc  by  name,  wreaked  upon  him 
that  fury,  which  he  could  not  vent  upon  the  whole  body  of 
the  people;  and,  tying  him  to  an  olive  tree,  ordered  him  to' 
b  ■  cruelly  shot  to  death  :  then,  burning  and  demolishing 
the  town,  he  marched  straightway  to  Cabrieres.  When 
the  townsmen,  of  whom  no  more  than  sixty,  with  about 
thirty  women,  were  left  in  the  place,  had  at  first  shut  their 
gates  against  him,  some  great  guns  were  brought  down, 
upon  which  they  surrendered  on  a  promise,  confirmed  by 
Poulain  and  the  lord  of  the  place,  of  having  their  lives 
saved  ;  but  when  the  garrison  was  admiited  they  were  all 
seized,  even  they  who  lay  hid  in  the  dungeon  of  the  castle, 
or  thought  themselves  secured  by  the  sacredness  of  the 
church  ;  and  being  dragged  out  from  thence  into  a  hollow 
meadow,  were  put  to  death,  without  regard  to  age  or  the 
assurance  given  :  the  number  of  the  slain,  within  and  with- 
out the  town,  amounted  to  eight  hundred  :  the  women,  by 
the  command  of  Oppede,  were  thrust  into  a  barn  filled 
with  straw,  and  fire  being  set  to  it,  when  they  endeavoured 


240  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [cm.  fi 

to  leap  out  of  the  window,  they  were  pushed  by  poles  and 
spikes,  and  miserably  i-ufibcated  and  consumed  in  the  liames. 
Thence   they  proceeded   to   La  Coste,  the  lord  of  which 
place  haviniL]^  passed   his  word  to  the  townsmen  for  their 
safety,  provided  they  carried  tlieir  arms  into  ihe  castle,  and 
broke  down  their  walls  in  four  places ;  the  credulous  peo- 
ple did  as  they  were  commanded,  notwithstanding  which, 
on  the  arrival  of  Oppede,  the  suburbs  being  burnt  and  the 
town  taken,  all  that  were  found  left  in  the  place  were  mur- 
dered to  a  man.     The  women  who,  to  avoid  the  first  fury 
of  the  soldiers,  had  retired  into  a  garden  near  the  castle, 
were  deflowered,  and,  ai'ter  the  rage  of  lust  was  extinguish- 
ed, handled  in  so  cruel  a  manner,  that  most  of  those  who 
were  with  child,  and  even  the  virgins,  died  either  of  grief, 
or    by   hunger   and   torments.     The  men,   who    sheltered 
themselves  at  Mus,  being  at  length  discovered,  underwent 
the  same  fate  with  the  others :  the  remainder  of  them,  wan- 
dering here  and  there  among  the  woods  and  solitary  moun- 
tahis,  led  a  wretched  life,  deprived  both  of  wives  and  chil- 
dren ;  some  few  escaped,  partly  to  Geneva,  and  partly  to 
the  Swiss  cantons.     In  all  there   are   twenty -two  villages 
reckoned,  which  were  punished  with  the   last  severity  by 
Oppede ;  by  whose  authority  judges  were  again  selected, 
to  make  inquiry  after  the  heretics ;  and  these  condemned 
the  rest  of  those  poor  wretches  either  to  the  galleys,  or  to 
the  payment  of  excessive  fines.     Some,  indeed,  were  ab- 
solved ;    and   among    these  the  tenants   of    Cental,    who 
solemnly   abjured   their   error.     When  these   things  were 
done,  Oppede  and  the  committee  of  judges,  being  terrified 
by  their  consciences,  and  justly  apprehending  that  one  time 
or  other  their  heads  might  be  endangered  by  those  prac- 
tices, deputed  the  president  De  la  Fons  to  the  Ring,  to  load 
the  slaughtered  and  harassed  people  with  the  most  execra- 
ble crimes,  and  to  make  it  appear,   that,  considering  the 
heinousness  of  their  offence,  they   had  been  very   gently 
treated.     He  accoi'dingly,  on  the  J  8th  day  of  August,  by  the 
suggestions  (as  it  is  thought)  of  the  Cardinal  De  Tournon, 


SECT.  II.]       Tlie  Waldenses  apjyeal  to  the  king.  241 

obtained  an  instrument  from  the  king,  wherein  he  seemed 
to  approve  the  punishment  which  was  taken  ol"  those  gulhy 
persons  ;  of  which  however  he  afterwards  repented.  Muny 
writers  have  reported,  that,  among  the  last  commands  which 
he  gave  to  his  son  Henry,  he  added  this  expressly,  that  he 
should  make  inquisition  into  the  injuries  done  in  that  cause 
by  the  parliament  of  Aix  to  the  ProvenCjals  :  and,  even  be- 
fore he  died,  he  caused  John  Romano,  a  n)onk,  to  be  ap- 
prehended, and  commanded  the  parliament  of  Aix  to 
punish  him  ;  for  he,  in  the  examination  of  heretics,  invented 
a  new  kind  of  torture,  ordering  the  tortured  parties  to  put 
on  boots  full  of  boiling  tallow,  and  after  laughing  at  them, 
and  clapping  on  a  pair  of  spurs,  he  would  ask  them, 
whether  they  were  not  finely  equipt  for  a  journey.  But 
this  man,  being  well  informed  of  the  decree  of  the  parlia- 
ment, fled  to  Avignon ;  where,  though  secured,  as  he  ima- 
gined, from  men,  he  did  not  escape  the  divine  vengeance, 
being  robbed  of  all  his  effects  bj'  his  servants,  and  reduced 
to  extreme  poverty,  whilst  his  body  was  so  overrun  with 
filthy  boils,  that  he  wished  for  death,  which  yet  he  did  not 
obtain  until  very  late,  and  after  the  most  horrible  torments. 
Upon  the  death,  therefore,  of  Francis,  when  the  Cardi- 
nal de  Tournon  and  the  Count  de  Grignan,  who  had  long 
flourished  in  the  king's  favour,  were  violently  hated  by  those 
who  were  placed  about  the  new  king ;  the  Merindolians 
and  Waldenses,  who  knew  of  their  disgrace,  gathering  to- 
gether their  remains  into  a  body,  formed  a  complaint  of 
the  injustice  and  cruelty  of  the  parliament  of  Aix,  and,  out 
of  spite  to  them,  easily  obtained  to  have  their  cause  heard 
over  again.  The  Duke  of  Guise  was  their  principal  en- 
courager,  who  procured  for  himself  the  county  of  Grignan 
under  the  title  of  a  gift  or  sale  from  Lewis  des  Emars,  to 
exempt  him  from  danger.  For  though  all  things  had  been 
acted  in  the  count's  absence,  as  we  mentioned,  yet  because 
they  were  said  to  be  done  by  Oppede  his  lieutenant,  and  by 
his  order,  he  also  himself  was  brought  into  a  share  of  pe- 
ril.    The  matter  was  first  debated  in  the  great  council,  as 


242  History  of  the  Christian  Church.         [ch.  vi. 

it  is  called  :  afterwards  when  Oppede,  De  la  Fons,  De  Tri- 
biitiis,  Badet,  and  Guerin,  being  called  upon  to  answer,  they 
defended  themselves  by  the  plea  of  a  sentence  past,  against 
the  execution  whereof  the  royal  advocate  had  not  appeal- 
ed; at  length,  by  a  new  arret  of  the  17th  day  of  March, 
the  king  took  the  cause  into  his  own  cognizance.  And 
because  the  question  concerned  the  force  and  authority  of 
the  supreme  court  of  Aix,  he  committed  the  hearing  both 
of  the  matter  itself,  and  of  the  appeals,  to  the  grand  cham- 
ber of  the  parliament  of  Paris ;  where  the  cause  was  pub- 
licly managed,  with  great  contention,  and  before  a  large 
concourse  of  people,  for  fifty  days,  by  James  Aubry  on  the 
part  of  the  Merindolians,  Peter  Robert  for  the  parliament 
of  Aix,  and  Denys  de  Ryants  for  the  king's  advocate. 
When,  upon  the  mention  of  so  many  horrid  facts,  of  which 
the  defendants  were  accused,  the  minds  of  all  men  were  in 
the  utmost  attention  and  expectation  of  the  issue,  they  were 
entirely  disappointed  of  their  hopes,  Guerin  alone,  who 
happened  to  be  destitute  of  friends  at  court,  suffering  the 
punishment  of  death.  Oppede,  who  with  De  Grignan  es- 
caped by  the  intercession  of  the  Duke  of  Guise,  was  restor- 
ed to  his  former  post,  together  with  his  colleagues  :  but,  in 
a  little  time,  being  grievously  afflicted  with  pains  in  the 
bowels,  he  breathed  out  his  sanguinary  soul  in  the  midst  of 
the  most  cruel  torments,  and  paid  the  desei'ved  penalty, 
which  his  judges  had  not  exacted,  late  indeed,  but  there- 
fore so  much  the  heavier,  to  God."* 

Such  is  the  relation  of  this  dreadful  scene  of  cruelty,  op- 
pression and  carnage — detailed  not  by  the  poor  persecuted 
Waldenses  themselves,  but  by  a  Catholic  historian,  whose 
impartiality  and  rigid  adherence  to  truth  has  never  been 
questioned  except  by  his  own  party. 

*  Thuani  Historia  sui  temporis,  lib.  VI. 


SECT.  III.]  State  of  religion  in  Spain.  243 


SBCTZOIT  ZII. 

A  view  of  the  conduct  of  the  court  of  Rome,  and  the  opera- 
tion of  its  favourite  instrument,  the  Inquisition,  about  the 
middle  of  the  sixteenth  century,  including  details  of  the 
horrid  cruelties  exercised  towards  the  friends  of  reform, 
particularly  in  Spain  and  the  JVetherlands. 

A.  D.  1550—1570. 

Having  devoted  a  former  section  to  the  purpose  of  tra- 
cing the  rise,  spirit,  operation,  and  progress  of  that  infernal 
instrument  of  cruelty,  known  by  the  name  of  the  Inquisi- 
tion; that  we  may  not  wholly  lose  sight  of  the  influence  of 
this  engine  of  spiritual  despotism,  we  shall,  for  a  moment, 
suspend  the  immediate  narrative  of  the  Waldenses  in  France 
and  Piedmont,  in  order  that  we  may  take  a  cursory  view 
of  the  state  of  affairs,  in  reference  to  religion,  in  Spain  and 
the  Netherlands,  at  the  period  at  which  we  are  now  arri- 
ved, namely,  about  twenty  years  after  the  Reformation  by 
Luther. 

It  is  scarcely  necessary  for  me  to  state,  that,  in  the  suc- 
cession of  kings  by  whom  Spain  had  been  governed  for 
about  the  space  of  three  hundred  years,  the  Popes  of  Rome 
had  generally  found  a  race  of  obsetjuious  princes,  seldom 
reluctant  to  yield  their  concurrence  with  any  measures  that 
might  be  proposed  for  the  destruction  of  heretics.  But  it 
was  now  the  misfortune  of  that  country  to  possess  a  mo- 
narch whose  xeal  for  the  extirpation  of  heretical  pravity, 
surpassed  even  that  of  Popes  and  cardinals.  This  monarch 
was  Philip  II.,  son  of  the  Emperor  Charles  V.,  and  of 
Isabella,  daughter  of  Immanuel  the  great,  King  of  Poriu  jr;i!. 
He  was  born  on  the  27th  of  May,  1527,  and  educated  in 
Spain,  under  ecclesiastics  noted  for  their  bigotry,  which 
may  account  for  several  of  those  features  in  his  character 
that  afterwards  appeared  so  prominently  in  his  conduct. 


244  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [ch.  yi. 

He  was  the  most  powerful  monarch  of  the  age;  for,  be- 
sides the  government  of  Spain,  he  possessed  the  kingdoms 
of  Naples  and  Sicily;  the  dutchy  of  Milan,  Franche 
Compte,  and  the  Netherlands,  or,  as  they  were  then  gene- 
rally termed,  the  Low  Countries. 

These  provinces,  which,  on  account  of  their  situation, 
are  called  the  Netherlands,  had  been  long  governed  by 
their  respective  princes,  under  the  titles  of  dukes,  mar- 
quisses,  or  counts;  and  under  the  administration  of  the 
princes  of  the  house  of  Burgundy,  they  had  flourished  in 
trade,  commerce,  and  manufactures,  beyond  any  other 
European  state.  No  city,  in  those  days,  except  Venice, 
possessed  such  extensive  commerce  as  Antwerp.  It  was 
the  great  mart  of  all  the  northern  nations.  Bruges  was 
little  inferior;  and  in  the  city  of  Ghent  there  were  many 
thousand  artificers  employed  in  the  woollen  manufacture, 
long  before  the  art  was  known  to  the  English,  from  whom 
the  wool  was  purchased  by  the  industrious  Flemings. 

In  consequence  of  the  constant  intercourse  which  sub- 
sisted between  Germany  and  the  Netherlands,  we  may 
naturally  suppose  that  the  doctrines  of  the  Reformers  would 
be  early  propagated  from  the  former  to  the  latter  country; 
and,  accordingly,  in  the  month  of  May,  1521,  even  before 
the  days  of  Philip,  his  father,  the  Emperor  Charles  V., 
had  published  an  edict,  in  which  all  the  penalties  of  high 
treason  were  pronounced  against  heretics.  In  the  execution 
of  this  edict,  which  Ciiarles,  from  tin)e  to  time,  renewed, 
all  the  fury  of  persecution  was  exercised;  ^nd  it  is  affirmed 
by  several  cotemporary  historians,  that,  during  his  revgn, 
fifty  thousand  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  Netherlands  were 
put  to  death  on  account  of  their  religious  principles.* 
Those  principles,  however,  far  from  being  extirpated,  be- 
came more  generally  propagated  and  diffused  amidst  the 
severities  which  were  employed  to  suppress  them. 


*  F.  Paul's  History  of  the  Council  of  Trent,  b.  v.     Grotius  doubles 
the  number ! 


SECT.  III.]      Conduct  of  the  Emperor  Charles  J^.  245 

Before  the  Emperor  Charles  V.  had  resigned  the  rehis 
of  government  to  his  son  Philip,  great  numbers  of  his 
subjects  had  begun  to  retire  from  the  provinces  of  the 
Netherlands  and  to  transport  their  families  and  efl'ects  to 
the  neighbouring  states;  and  when  he  was  informed  of 
this,  by  the  regent,  who  was  his  sister,  and  queen  dowager 
of  Hungary,  his  heart  relented  for  the  calamities  of  his 
people,  and  he  dreaded  the -consequences  of  depopulating 
a  country  from  which  he  had  often  received  the  most  ef- 
fectual assistance  and  support.  But  these  considerations 
had  no  influence  on  his  son  Philip.  He  republished  the 
edicts  of  his  father,  and  ordered  the  governors  and  magis- 
trates to  carry  the  n  into  rigorous  execution. 

In  these  edicts  it  was  enacted,  that  all  persons  who  held 
erroneous  opinions  in  religion,  should  be  deprived  of  their 
offices,  and  degraded  from  their  rank.  It  was  ordained, 
that  whoever  should  be  convicted  of  having  taught  here- 
tical doctrines,  or  of  having  been  present  at  the  religious 
meetings  of  heretics,  should,  if  they  were  men,  be  put  to 
death  by  the  sword;  and  if  women,  be  burned  alive. 
Such  were  the  punishments  denounced  even  against  those 
who  repented  of  their  errors  and  forsook  them;  while  all 
who  persisted  in  them  were  condemned  to  the  flames. 
And  even  those  who  afl'orded  shelter  to  heretics,  in  their 
houses,  or  who  omitted  to  give  information  against  them, 
were  subjected  to  the  same  penalties  as  heretics  themselves. 

But  Philip  could  not  content  himself  with  publishing  and 
executing  these  cruel  edicts.  He  also  established  a  par- 
ticular tribunal  for  the  extirpation  of  heresy,  which,  al- 
though it  was  not  called  by  the  name  Inquisition,  had  all 
the  essentials  of  that  iniquitous  institution.  Persons  were 
committed  to  prison  upon  bare  suspicion,  and  put  to  the 
torture  on  the  slightest  evidence.  The  accused  were  not 
confronted  with  their  accusers,  or  made  acquainted  with 
the  crimes  for  which  they  suflered.  The  civil  judges  were 
not  allowed  to  take  any  farther  concern  in  prosecutions  for 
heresy,  than  to  execute  the  sentences  which  the  inquisitors 

Vol.  II.  2  K 


246  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [ch.  vi. 

pronounced.  The  possessions  of  the  sufferers  were  con- 
fiscated ;  and  informers  were  encouraged,  by  an  assurance 
of  impunity  in  case  \\\ey  themselves  were  guilty,  and  by 
the  promise  of  rewards.* 

That  the  establishment  of  this  arbitrary  tribunal  should 
have  excited  considerable  commotion  in  the  Netherlands, 
can  occasion  no  surprise.  It  had  created  disturbances 
even  in  Spain  and  Italy,  where  civil  liberty  was  not  en- 
joyed in  the  measure  that  it  was  in  the  Netherlands. 
Among  the  Flemings,  therefore,  it  excited  the  most  terrible 
apprehensions:  they  considered  it  as  utterly  subversive  of 
their  liberty.  But  to  the  grievances  already  enumerated, 
the  inhabitants  of  the  Netherlands  further  complained  that 
the  provinces  were  filled  with  Spanish  soldiers,  whose  inso- 
lent and  rapacious  behaviour  was  intolerable.  And  to 
all  these  causes  of  discontent,  Philip  added  another  by 
increasing  the  number  of  bishopricks  from  five  to  seven- 
teen, which  was  the  number  of  the  provinces.  These  new 
bishops  were  regarded  as  so  many  new  inquisitors,  and 
their  creation  was  considered  as  an  encroachment  on  the 
privileges  of  the  provinces,  and  a  violation,  on  the  part  of 
the  king,  of  the  oath  which  he  had  taken  at  his  accession, 
to  preserve  the  church  in  the  condition  in  which  he  found 
it.  Such  was  the  state  of  afl'airs,  when  Philip,  who  had 
for  some  time  taken  up  his  residence  among  his  subjects  in 
the  Netherlands,  proposed,  in  the  year  1559,  to  quit  the 
country  and  fix  the  seat  of  his  government  in  Spain. 
During  his  absence  the  government  of  the  Netherlands 
was  conferred  upon  the  Dutchess  of  Parma,  who  was  a 
natural  daughter  of  the  late  emperor,  and  who  sustained 
the  title  of  Regent. 

As  Philip  did  not  intend  to  return  speedily  to  the  Ne- 
therlands, he  thought  proper,  before  his  departure,  to  sum- 
mon a  convention  of  the  states,  which  was  accordingly 
held  at  Ghent.     He  himself  was  present,  accompanied  by 

*  Grotius,  Annales,  lib.  i. 


SECT.  III.]  State  of  the  Netherlands.  247 

the  new  regent,  at  the  first  opening  of  the  assembly ;  but 
as  he  could  not  speak  the  language  of  the  country,  he 
employed  the  Bishop  of  Arras  to  address  the  deputies  in 
his  name.  Among  other  things,  the  latter  was  instructed 
earnestly  to  exhort  the  states  to  study  to  preserve  the 
public  peace;  and  to  this  end  he  thought  nothing  could 
conduce  so  much,  as  the  exiirjfaiion  of  heresy,  which,  whilst 
it  set  men  at  variance  with  God,  put  arms  into  their  hands 
against  their  civil  sovereign.  They  were,  therefore,  strenu- 
ously exhorted  to  maintain  the  purity  of  dieir  ancient  faith ; 
and  for  this  purpose,  to  execute  vigorously  the  several 
edicts  published  for  the  suppression  of  heresy. 

The  reply  of  the  deputies  of  the  states  to  this  speech, 
contained  the  warmest  sentiments  of  loyalty,  but  it  was 
also  accompanied  with  intimations,  that  they  had  expected 
the  foreign  troops  would  have  been  immediately  transported 
to  Spain, — that  they  were  unable  to  discover  any  reason 
for  keeping  them  ciny  longer  in  the  Netherlands,  but  such 
as  filled  their  minds  with  terror.  Their  suspicion  that  the 
inquisition  was  about  to  be  established  in  the  Netherlands, 
excited  the  most  disquieting  apprehensions.  Some  of  the 
deputies  did  not  scruple  to  remonstrate  openly,  that  the 
Netherlands  had  never  been  accustomed  to  an  institution 
of  so  much  rigour  and  severity:  that  the  people  trembled 
at  the  very  name  of  the  inquisition,  and  would  ^y  to  the 
remotest  corners  of  the  earth  rather  than  submit  to  it; 
that  it  was  not  by  fire  and  the  sword,  but  by  the  gentlest 
and  softest  remedies,  that  the  evil  complained  of  must  be 
cured.  Various  representations  of  this  kind  were  addressed 
to  the  king  himself  by  some  of  the  deputies,  who  endea- 
voured to  persuade  him  at  least  to  moderate  the  edicts,  if 
he  would  not  entirely  annul  them;  but  on  this  head  Philip 
was  inexorable.  And  when  one  of  his  ministers  reported, 
that,  by  persisting  in  the  execution  of  those  edicts,  he  might 
kindle  the  seeds  of  rebellion,  and  thereby  lose  the  sove- 
reignty of  the  provinces ;  he  rephed,  "  That  he  had  much 


248  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [en.  vi, 

rather  be  no  king  at  all,  than  have  heretics  for  his  sub- 
jects."* 

His  religion  was,  of  all  superstitions,  the  most  intolerant; 
his  temper  of  mind,  which  was  naturally  haughty  and 
severe;  his  pi'ide,  which  would  have  been  wounded  by 
3'ielding  to  what  he  had  repeatedly  declared  he  would 
never  yield ;  his  engagements  w  ith  the  Pope,  and  an  oath 
which  he  had  taken  to  devote  his  reign  to  the  defence  of 
the  Popish  faith  and  the  extirpation  of  heresy;  above  all, 
his  thirst  for  despotic  power,  with  which  he  considered 
the  liberties  claimed  in  religious  matters  by  the  Protestants 
as  utterly  incompatible;  all  these  united  causes,  rendered 
him  deaf  to  the  remonstrances  which  were  made  to  him, 
and  fixed  him  unalterably  in  his  resolution  to  execute  the 
edicts  with  the  utmost  rigour.  He  showed  himself  equally 
inflexible  with  regard  to  the  new  bishopricks ;  nor  would 
he  consent,  at  this  time,  to  withdraw  the  Spanish  soldiers. 
In  order,  however,  to  lessen  the  odium  arising  from  his 
refusal,  he  ofl'ered  the  command  of  these  troops  to  the 
Prince  of  Orange  and  Count  Egmont,  the  two  ablest  and 
most  popular  nobleman  in  the  Netherlands ;  the  former  of 
whom  he  had  appointed  governor  of  Holland,  Zealand,  and 
Utrecht;  and  the  latter  of  Artois  and  Flanders.  Both  of 
them  declined  accepting  of  the  offer  which  was  made  to 
them,  and  had  the  courage  to  declare,  that  they  considered 
the  continuance  of  the  troops  in  the  Low  Countries,  after 
peace  had  been  established  in  France,  as  a  violation  of  the 
fundamental  laws  of  the  constitution. 

The  Prince  of  Orange,  so  well  known  in  history  by  the 
name  of  William  the  First,  was  the  representative  of  the 
ancient  and  illustrious  family  of  Nassau  in  Germany. 
From  his  ancestors,  one  of  whom  had  been  Emperor  of 
Germany,  he  inherited  several  rich  possessions  in  the  Ne- 
therlands ;   and   he   had  succeeded  to  the   principality  of 

*  Bentivoglio,  lib.  i,  p.  9,  10. 


SECT.  III.]  Character  of  Philip  II.  249 

Orange  by  the  will  of  Rene  Nassau  and  Chalons,  his 
cousin-german,  in  the  year  1544.  From  that  time  tiie  late 
Emperor  had  kept  him  perpetually  about  his  person,  and 
had  early  discovered  in  him  all  those  extraordinary  talents 
which  rendered  him  afterwards  one  of  the  most  illustrious 
personages  of  the  age. 

It  does  not  appear,  that,  before  the  assembly  of  the  states, 
Philip  had  any  just  ground  for  his  suspicions  of  William's 
conduct ;  and  there  is  only  one  circumstance  recorded  to 
which  they  can  be  ascribed.  Tiie  prince  having  been  sent 
to  France  as  a  hostage  for  the  execution  of  some  articles 
of  the  peace  of  Chateau-Cambresis,  had,  during  his  resi- 
dence there,  discovered  a  scheme  formed  by  the  French 
and  Spanish  monarchs  for  the  extirpation  of  the  Protestants. 
This  scheme  he  had  communicated  to  such  of  his  friends 
in  the  Netherlands  as  had  embraced  the  reformed  religion, 
and  from  that  time  the  king  ceased  to  treat  him  with  his 
wonted  confidence.* 

On  the  20th  of  August,  1559,  Philip  set  sail  from  the 
Netherlands  with  a  fleet  of  seventy  ships,  and  on  the  29th 
arrived  at  Loredo,  in  the  province  of  Biscay.  He  reached 
the  port  in  safety,  but  no  sooner  had  he  landed,  than  a 
dreadful  storm  arose,  in  which  a  part  of  his  fleet  was  ship- 
wrecked ;  above  a  thousand  men  perished,  and  a  great 
number  of  capital  paintings,  statues,  and  other  curious 
works  of  art  were  lost,  which  the  late  Emperor,  Charles, 
had  been  employed,  during  forty  years,  in  collecting,  in 
Germany,  Italy,  and  Flanders.  Philip  thought  he  could 
not  on  this  occasion,  better  express  his  gratitude  for  his 
own  personal  preservation,  than  by  declaring  his  resolution 
to  dedicate  his  life  to  the  defence  of  the  Catholic  faith  and 
the  extirpation  of  heresy :  and  such  were  the  feelings 
with  which  he  was  animated  when  he  entered  Spain. 

The  inquisition  had  been  introducted  into  Spain  about 
a  century  before  this  time,  as  hath  already  been  noticed  in 

*  Tbuanus,  torn,  i.  lib.  xxii.  sect.  10. 


250  History  of  the  Christian  Church.        [ch.  vi. 

I 
a  former  section  of  this  work  ;  and  it  met  with  the  entire 
approbation  and  countenance  of  Phihp,  who  had  imbibed, 
in   all  its  virulence,  that  spirit  of  bigotry  and  persecution 
which  gave  it  birth.     He   regarded   heretics  as  the  most 
odious   of  criminals ;    and   considered  a   departure  of  his 
subjects  from  the  Roman  superstition,  as  the  most  dreadful 
calamity  that  could  befal  them.     He  was,  therefore,  deter- 
mined to  support  the  inquisitors  with  all  his  power,  and  he 
encouraged  them  to  exert  themselves  in  the  exercise  of  their 
office  with  the  utmost  vigilance.     The  zeal  and  diligence  of 
these   men   corresponded  to  the  ardour  with   which   their 
sovei-eign  was  inflamed  ;  j^et  so  irresistible  was  the  spirit  of 
inquiry  and  the  force  of  truth,   that   the  opinions  of  the 
Reformers  had  found  their  way  into  Spain,  and  were  em- 
braced openly  by    great  numbers   of  both  sexes,   among 
whom  were  several  priests  and  nuns. 

Before  Philip's  arrival  in  the  city  of  Valladolid,  an  auto- 
de-fe  had  been  celebrated,   in   which  a  great  number  of 
Protestants  had  been  committed  to  the  flames.    There  were 
still  in  the  prisons  of  the  inquisition  more  than  thirty  per- 
sons, against  whom  the  same  dreadful  punishment  had  been 
denounced.     Philip,  eager  to  give  public  proof  as  early  as 
possible  of  his  abhorrence  of  these  innovators,  desired  the 
inquisitors  to  fix  a  day  for  their  execution  ;  and  he  resolved 
to  witness  it.     The  dreadful  ceremony  (more  repugnant  to 
humanity,  as  well  as  to  the  spirit  of  the  Christian  religion, 
than  the  most  abominable  sacrifices  recorded  in  the  annals 
of  the  Pagan  world)  was  conducted  with  the  greatest  so- 
lemnity which  the  inquisitors  could  devise  ;  and  Philip,  at- 
tended by  his  son    Don  Carlos,  by  his  sister,  and  by  his 
courtiers  and  guards,  sat  within  sight  of  the  unhappy  vic- 
tims.   After  hearing  a  sermon  from  the  Bishop  of  Zamora, 
he  rose  from  his  seat,  and  having  drawn   his  sword,  as  a 
signal,  that  with  it  he  would  defend  the  holy  faith,  he  took 
an   oath   administered  to  him  by  the  inquisitor-general,  to 
support  the  Inquisition  and  its  ministers  against  all  heretics 


SECT.  111.]  Cruelties  of  Philip.  251 

and  apostates,  and  to  compel  his  subjects  every  wher»  to 
yield  obedience  to  its  decrees. 

Among  the  Protestants  condemned,  there  was  a  noble- 
man of  the  name  of  Don  Carlos  di  Sessa,  who  when  the 
executioners  were  conducting  him  to  the  stake,  called  out 
to  the  King  for  mercy,  saying,  "  And  canst  thou  thus,  O 
king  !  witness  the  torments  of  thy  subjects  ?  Save  us  from 
this  cruel  death  ;  we  do  not  deserve  it."  "  No,"  Philip 
sternly  replied,  "  I  would  myself  carry  wood  to  bum  my 
own  son,  were  he  such  a  wretch  as  thou."  After  which  he 
beheld  the  horrid  spectacle  that  followed,  with  a  composure 
and  tranquillity  that  betokened  the  most  unfeeling  heart. 

This  dreadful  severity,  joined  with  certain  rigid  laws 
enacted  to  prevent  the  importation  of  Lutheran  books,  soon 
produced  the  desired  eflect.  After  the  celebration  of 
another  auto-de-fe,  in  which  about  fifty  Protestants  suffered, 
all  the  rest,  if  there  were  any  who  still  remained,  either 
concealed  their  sentiments,  or  made  their  escape  into  foreign 
parts.* 

But  though  Philip  had,  for  a  moment,  banished  the 
heretics  from  his  Spanish  dominions,  he  had  the  mortifica- 
tion to  contemplate  the  rapid  progress  of  heresy  in  almost 
every  other  state  in  Europe ;  and,  in  order  to  obstruct  it, 
he  employed  all  his  influence  to  procure  the  convocation  of 
a  general  council  of  the  church.  For  several  centuries 
before  the  Reformation,  and  for  some  time  after  it  had 
been  set  on  foot,  the  bigotry  of  the  Papists  would  not  sufler 
them  to  think  of  any  other  means  of  extirpating  the  opi- 
nions of  the  Protestants,  but  persecution  ;  which  was  exer- 
cised against  them  with  the  same  unrelenting  severity,  as  if 
they  had  been  guilty  of  the  most  atrocious  crimes.  But  it 
soon  appeared  how  inadequate  this  barbarous  procedure  was 
to  accomplish  the  purpose  which  the  Romanists  intended. 
Those  bloody  edicts  which  were  pubHshed,  those  fires  which 

*  Watson's  History  of  Philip  II.  vol.  I,  b.  iv. 


252  History  of  the  Christian  Church.        [ch.  vi. 

wf^e  lighted  up,  and  that  variety  of  torments  which  priests 
and  inquisitors  invented  with  ingenious  cruelty,  served  in  re- 
ality to  propagate  the  doctrines  against  which  they  were  em- 
ployed, and  contributed  to  inflame,  rather  than  extinguish, 
that  ardent  zeal  with  which  the  Protestants  were  animated. 
Being  firmly  persuaded,  that  the  cause  which  they  main- 
tained, was  the  cause  of  God  and  truth,  and  that  their  per- 
severance would  be  rewarded  with  a  happy  immortality, 
they  courted  their  punishments  instead  of  avoiding  them  ; 
and,  in  bearing  them,  displayed  a  degree  of  fortitude  and 
patience,  which,  by  exciting  admiration  in  the  beholders, 
produced  innumerable  proselytes  to  the  faith  for  which  they 
suflered. 

Several  princes  had  been  converted  to  that  faith.  In 
some  states  the  Protestants  had  become  more  numerous 
and  powerful  than  their  opponents ;  and  in  others,  their 
opinions  so  generally  prevailed,  that  the  Catholic  princes 
found  it  no  longer  possible  to  extirpate  them,  without  de- 
priving themselves  of  great  multitudes  of  their  most  indus- 
trious subjects,  on  whom  the  wealth  and  importance  of 
their  states  depended.  The  time  when  persecution  might 
have  proved  effectual  was  past,  and  the  princes  came  at 
length  to  perceive  the  necessity  of  having  recourse  to  some 
more  gentle  means  than  had  been  hitherto  employed. 
They  were,  at  the  same  time  sensible,  notwithstanding  their 
prejudices  against  the  Reformers,  that  some  reformation 
was  extremely  necessary ;  they  had  long  borne  with  great 
impatience  the  numberless  encroachments  of  the  court  of 
Rome,  and  were  convinced,  that  if  some  abuses  were  re- 
moved, it  would  not  be  impracticable  to  persuade  many 
of  the  Protestants  to  return  into  the  bosom  of  the  church. 

A  general  council  appeared  to  be  the  only  expedient 
by  which  this  important  end  could  be  obtained ;  and  the 
late  Emperor  Charles  had  taken  infinite  pains  to  procure 
the  convocation  of  that  assembly.  In  former  times  the 
councils  of  the  church  had  been  convened  by  the  emperors 


SECT.  111.]  Council  of  Trent.  253 

themselves  ;  but,  in  the  time  of  Charles,  the  power  of  call- 
ing them  was,  by  all  true  CathoUcs,  considered  as  the  pe- 
culiar prerogative  of  the  Popes ;  who  dreaded,  that  such 
assemblies  might  derogate  from  their  usurped  authority, 
and  were  therefore  inclined,  if  possible,  to  prevent  them 
from  being  held.  With  the  timid  Clement,  Charles  em- 
ployed all  liis  art  and  influences  to  procure  a  council,  but 
in  vain.  Paul  the  Third  was  no  less  averse  to  this  mea- 
sure than  Clement ;  but  the  emperor  being  seconded  by 
almost  all  the  Catholic  princes  in  Europe,  Paul  yielded  to 
their  importunities,  and  summoned  a  council  to  meet  in 
Trent.  From  this  place  it  was  afterwards  translated  to 
Bologna.  After  the  death  of  Paul  it  was  again  assembled 
in  Trent,  in  1551,  and  continued  to  be  held  there  till  the 
year  following ;  when  it  was  prorogued  for  two  years, 
upon  war  being  declared  against  the  Emperor  by  the 
Elector  of  Saxony. 

In  the  sessions  which  were  held  under  Paul,  that  funda- 
mental tenet  of  the  Reformers,  by  which  the  writings  of 
the  evangelists  and  apostles  are  held  to  be  the  only  rule 
of  the  Christian  faith,  was  condemned  ;  and  equal  authority 
was  ascribed  to  the  books  termed  Apocryphal,  and  to  the 
oral  traditions  of  the  church.  From  the  manner  in  which 
the  deliberations  of  this  assembly  were  conducted  ;  from 
the  nature  of  its  decisions,  and  from  the  blind  attachment 
of  a  great  majority  of  its  members  to  the  court  of  Rome, 
there  was  little  ground  to  hope  for  the  attainment  of  those 
ends  for  which  the  calling  of  it  had  been  so  earnestly  de- 
sired. But  no  other  expedient  could  be  devised,  which  the 
Catholics  thought  so  likely  to  stop  the  progress  of  heresy  ; 
and,  therefore,  as  soon  as  the  war  between  France  and 
Spain  was  concluded,  the  several  Catholics  began  to  think 
seriously  of  the  restoration  of  the  council. 

The  state  of  Europe  at  that  time  seemed,  more  than 
ever,  to  require  the  application  of  some  immediate  remedy. 
The  power  and  number  of  the  Protestants  were  every  day 
becoming    more  and  more  considerable.     Both   England 

Vol.  II.  2  L 


254  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [ch.  vi. 

and  Scotland  had  disclaimed  allegiance  to  the  See  of  Rome, 
and  new-modelled  their  religion.  In  the  Netherlands  the 
Reformers  had  greatly  multiplied  of  late,  notwithstanding 
the  most  dreadful  cruelties  had  been  exercised  against  them; 
and  in  France,  where  every  province  was  involved  in  the 
most  terrible  combustion,  there  was  ground  to  apprehend, 
that  they  would  soon  become  too  powerful  for  the  Catho- 
lics, and  be  able  to  wrest  from  them  the  reins  of  govern- 
ment. The  new  opinions  had  penetrated  even  into  Italy, 
and  had  been  embraced  by  a  considerable  number  of  per- 
sons both  in  Naples  and  Savoy.  From  the  former  of  these 
states  they  were  extirpated  by  the  unrelenting  severity  of 
Philip  ;  who  issued  orders  to  his  viceroy  to  put  all  heretics 
to  death  without  mercy,  and  even  to  pursue  with  fire  and 
sword  a  remnant  of  them  who  had  fled  from  Cosenza,  and 
were  living  quietly  among  the  mountains.* 

But  the  Duke  of  Savoy,  unwilling  to  deprive  himself  of 
so  great  a  number  of  useful  subjects  as  had  been  converted 
to  the  Protestant  faith,  was  inclined  to  attempt  to  enlighten 
and  convince  them  ;  and  with  this  view  he  desired  the 
Pope's  permission  to  hold  a  colloquy  of  the  principal  ec- 
clesiastics in  his  dominions,  on  the  subject  of  religion. 
Pius  was  about  the  same  time  informed,  that  in  France  a 
resolution  had  been  embraced  to  have  recourse  to  the  same 
expedient.  He  believed  that  no  measure  could  be  devised 
more  likely  to  prove  fatal  to  that  exclusive  prerogative 
which  he  claimed  of  judging  in  matters  of  religion.  He 
dreaded  that  the  example  of  France  and  Savoy  would  be 
quickly  followed  by  other  states,  and  the  decrees  of  pro- 
vincial synods  substituted  in  the  place  of  those  of  the  Holy 
See.  It  highly  concerned  him,  therefore,  to  prevent  this 
measure  (so  pernicious  to  his  authority)  from  taking  place. 
Nor  did  he  find  much  difficulty  in  dissuading  the  Duke  of 
Savoy  from  adopting  it.  "  If  the  heretics,"  said  he  to  the 
Duke's  ambassador,   "  stand  in  need  of  instruction,  I  will 

*  F.  Paul,  lib.  V.J 


SECT.  III.]  Lihtral  opinions  of  the  Prince  of  Orange,      255 

send  divines  and  a  legate,  by  whom  they  may  be  both  in- 
structed and  absolved.  But  your  master  will  find,  that 
they  will  lend  a  deaf  ear  to  all  the  instructions  that  can  be 
given  them,  and  will  put  no  other  interpretation  upon  Ins 
conduct,  but  that  he  wants  power  to  compel  them  to  sub- 
mit. No  good  effect  was  ever  produced  by  that  lenity 
which  he  inclines  to  exercise ;  but  from  experience  he  may 
learn,  that  the  sooner  he  shall  execute  justice  on  these  men, 
and  make  use  of  force  to  reduce  them,  the  more  certain 
will  be  his  success ;  and  if  he  will  comply  with  the  counsel 
which  I  offer,  he  shall  receive  from  me  such  assistance  as 
will  enable  him  to  carry  it  into  execution."  The  duke, 
who  was  sincerely  attached  to  the  Roman  faith,  and  closely 
connected  with  Philip,  unfortunately  complied  with  this 
violent  counsel,  and  engaged  in  a  bloody  war  with  his 
Protestant  subjects,  of  which  he  had  afterwards  the  greatest 
reason  to  repent. 

But  to  return  to  the  state  of  affairs  in  the  Netherlands  : 
the  seeds  of  discord  which  were  sown  in  that  unhappy 
country  in  the  beginning  of  the  reign  of  Philip  II.,  con- 
tinued to  approximate  towards  maturity.  At  his  departure 
from  among  them  he  had  given  strict  orders  to  the  regent 
to  enforce  a  rigorous  execution  of  his  edicts,  and  the  per- 
secutions were,  accordingly,  carried  on  as  formerly.  The 
council  of  Trent  had  published  its  decrees,  and  Philip  re- 
solved to  have  them  obeyed  throughout  all  his  dominions. 
The  disturbances  which  subsisted  in  the  Low  Countries, 
ought  to  have  deterred  him  from  adding  fuel  to  a  ffame 
which  already  burnt  with  so  much  violence.  But  his 
bigotry,  together  with  his  arbitrary  maxims  of  government, 
rendered  him  averse  to  every  mild  expedient,  and  deter- 
mined him  to  enforce  obedience  to  the  decrees  in  the 
Netherlands,  as  well  as  in  Spain  and  Italy.  When  the  re- 
gent laid  his  instructions  on  this  head  before  the  council  of 
state,  she  found  the  counsellors  much  divided  in  their  opi- 
nions. The  Prince  of  Orange  maintained,  that  the  regent 
could  not  require  the  people  of  the  Netherlands  to  receive 


256  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [ch.  vj. 

the  decrees,  because  several  of  tliem  were  contrary  to  the 
fundamental  laws  of  the  constitution.  He  represented 
that  some  Catholic  princes  had  thought  proper  to  reject 
them ;  and  proposed  that  a  remonstrance  should  be  made 
to  the  king  on  the  necessity  of  recalhng  his  instructions. 

"Let  us  not,  by  our  misrepresentations,"  said  he,  "make 
him  believe  the  number  of  heretics  to  be  smaller  than  it 
is.  Let  us  acquaint  him,  that  every  province,  every  town, 
every  village  is  full  of  them.  Let  us  not  conceal  from 
him  how  much  they  despise  the  edicts,  and  how  little  they 
respect  the  magistrates;  that  he  may  see  how  impracti- 
cable it  is  to  introduce  the  Inquisition,  and  be  convinced 
that  the  remedy  which  he  would  have  us  to  apply,  would 
be  infinitely  worse  than  the  disease."  He  added,  "That 
although  he  was  a  true  Catholic,  and  a  faithful  subject  of 
the  king,  3'et  he  thought  the  calamities  which  had  been 
lately  experienced  in  France  and  Germany,  afforded  a 
suflicient  proof  that  the  consciences  of  men  were  not  to  be 
compelled,  and  that  heresy  was  not  to  be  extirpated  by 
fire  and  sword,  but  by  reasoning  and  persuasion;  to  which 
it  was  in  vain  to  expect  that  men  would  be  brought  to 
listen,  until  the  present  practice  of  butchering  them  like 
beasts  was  wholly  laid  aside."  He  represented  likewise 
the  absurdity  of  publishing,  on  this  occasion,  the  decrees 
of  the  council  of  Trent,  and  proposed  that  Count  Egmont 
should  be  instructed  to  request  the  king  to  suspend  the 
publication  of  them  till  the  present  tumults  were  allayed. 

Many  of  the  other  nobles  set  on  foot,  at  this  time,  a 
confederacy,  by  which  they  bound  themselves  to  support 
one  another,  in  preventing  the  Inquisition  from  being 
established  in  the  Netherlands.  The  prime  mover  of  this 
expedient  was  Phihp  de  Marnix,  Lord  of  St.  Aldegonde, 
a  nobleman  highly  distinguished  for  his  eloquence,  his  ad- 
dress, and  his  pohtical  abihties,  who  had  the  merit  of  con- 
tributing more  than  any  other  person  (the  Prince  of  Orange 
alone  excepted)  towards  accomplishing  that  happy  revolu- 
tion, by  which  the  northern  provinces  were  rescued  from 


SECT.  III.]  The   Compromise.  257 

the  Spanish  yoke.  By  his  advice,  and  according  to  his 
direction,  a  writing  was  drawn  up,  termed  the  Compromise, 
which  is  here  inserted,  as  it  marks  strongly  the  spirit  by 
which  the  people  of  the  Netherlands  were  animated. 

"Whereas  certain  mahcious  persons,  under  the  cloak 
of  zeal  for  the  Catholic  religion,  but  in  reality  prompted 
fay  ambition,  pride,  and  avarice,  have,  by  their  misrepre- 
sentations, persuaded  our  lord  the  king  to  introduce  into 
these  provinces  that  most  pernicious  tribunal,  the  Inquisi- 
tion; which  is  not  only  contrary  to  all  human  and  divine 
laws,  but  exceeds  in  cruelty  the  most  barbarous  institutions 
of  the  most  savage  tyrants  in  the  heathen  world;  which 
subjects  all  authority  to  that  of  the  inquisitors,  reduces  all 
men  to  a  perpetual  state  of  miserable  slavery,  and  by  the 
visitations  which  it  appoints,  exposes  the  best  men  to  con- 
tinual apprehensions;  so  that  if  a  priest,  a  Spaniard,  or 
wicked  minion  of  power  shall  incline,  he  may,  by  means 
of  this  institution,  accuse  any  man,  however  innocent,  and 
cause  him  to  be  imprisoned,  condemned,  and  put  to  death, 
without,  being  confronted  with  his  accusers,  and  without 
being  allowed  to  bring  evidence  of  his  innocence,  br  to 
speak  in  his  defence :  for  these  reasons  we  whose  names 
are  here  subscribed  have  resolved  to  provide  for  the  security 
of  our  families,  goods,  and  persons;  and  for  this  purpose 
we  hereby  enter  into  a  sacred  league  with  one  another, 
promising  with  a  solemn  oath,  to  oppose  uith  all  our 
power,  the  introduction  of  the  above-named  Inquisition 
into  these  provinces;  whether  it  shall  be  attempted  openly 
or  secretly,  and  by  whatever  name  it  shall  be  called, 
whether  that  of  Inquisition,  Visitation,  Commission,  or 
Edict:  declaring  at  the  same  time,  that  we  are  far  from 
entertaining  the  design  of  attempting  any  thing  prejudicial 
to  the  interest  of  our  sovereign  the  king;  but,  on  the  con- 
trary, that  our  fixed  intention  is,  to  support  and  defend  his 
government,  to  maintain  peace,  and  to  prevent,  to  the  ut- 
most of  our  power,  all  seditions,  tumults,  and  revolts.  This 
agreement  we  have  sworn,  and   we  hereby  promise  and 


258  History  of  the  Christian  Church.       [ch.  vi. 

swear,  to  maintain  it  for  ever  sacred ;  and  we  call  Almighty 
God  to  witness,  that  neither  in  word  or  deed  shall  we  ever 
weaken  or  counteract  it. 

"We  likewise  promise  and  swear,  mutually  to  defend 
one  another,  in  all  places,  and  on  all  occasions,  against 
every  attack  that  shall  be  made,  or  prosecution  that  shall 
be  raised,  against  any  individual  amongst  us,  on  account 
of  his  concern  in  this  confederacy ;  and  we  declare,  that 
no  pretence  of  the  persecutors,  who  may  allege  rebellion, 
insurrection,  or  any  other  plea,  shall  exempt  us  from  this 
our  oath  and  promise.  No  action  can  deserve  the  name 
of  rebellion,  that  proceeds  from  opposition  to  the  iniquitous 
decrees  of  the  Inquisition;  and,  therefore,  whether  any 
of  us  be  attacked  directly  on  account  of  opposing  these 
decrees,  or  under  pretence  of  punishing  rebellion  or  insur- 
rection, we  hereby  swear  to  endeavour,  by  all  lawful  means, 
to  procure  his  deliverance. 

"In  this  and  every  part  of  our  conduct  regarding  the 
Inquisition,  our  meaning  is,  to  submit  to  the  general  opi- 
nion of  our  confederates,  or  to  that  of  those  who  sjiall  be 
appointed  by  the  rest  to  assist  us  with  their  counsel. 

"In  witness  of  this  our  league,  we  invoke  the  holy  name 
of  the  living  God,  as  the  searcher  of  our  hearts;  humbly 
beseeching  him  to  grant  us  the  grace  of  his  Holy  Spirit, 
and  that  all  our  enterprises  may  be  attended  with  success, 
may  promote  the  honour  of  his  name,  contribute  to  the 
welfare  of  our  souls,  and  advance  the  peace  and  true  inte- 
rest of  the  Netherlands." 

Such  were  the  terms  of  the  compromise,  which  was 
quickly  circulated  through  the  provinces,  and  subscribed 
by  persons  of  all  ranks,  whether  Cathohcs  or  Protestants. 
Books  were,  at  the  same  time,  muhiplied,  in  which  li- 
berty of  conscience  was  pleaded,  the  absurdities  in  the 
popish  doctrines  and  worship  exposed,  and  hideous  pictures 
drawn  of  the  Inquisition. 

The  regent  felt  great  anxiety  with  regard  to  the  con- 
sequences with  which  so  much  ill-humour  and  discontent 


SECT.  III.]      Speech  of  the  Prince  of  Orange.  259 

were  likely  to  be  attended.  She  had  never  fully  credited 
the  representations  which  the  Prince  of  Orange  and  some 
of  her  other  counsellors  had  often  made  to  her;  and  she 
now  complained  bitterly  of  the  situation  to  which  she  was 
reduced  by  the  orders  sent  from  Spain.  "For  to  what 
purpose  was  it,"  she  said,  "  to  publish  edicts,  when  I  wanted 
power  to  enforce  their  execution?  They  have  served  only 
to  increase  the  people's  audacity,  and  to  bring  my  autho- 
rity into  contempt." 

The  Prince  of  Orange,  and  the  Counts  Horn  and  Eg- 
mont,  had,  ever  since  the  last  republication  of  the  edicts, 
absented  themselves  from  the  council.  The  regent  now 
wrote  to  them  in  the  most  urgent  manner,  requiring  their 
attendance.  They  readily  complied ;  and  the  regent,  after 
having  informed  them  of  her  design  in  calling  them  to- 
gether, desired  ihey  would  deUver  their  opinions  without 
reserve.  The  Prince  of  Orange  was  among  the  last  who 
rose,  and  he  spoke  as  follows: 

"Would  to  Heaven  I  had  been  so  fortunate  as  to  gain 
belief  when  I  ventured  to  foretell  what  has  now  happened. 
Desperate  remedies  would  not,  in  that  case,  have  been  first 
applied,  nor  persons  who  had  fallen  into  error  been  con- 
firmed in  it,  by  the  means  employed  to  reclaim  them. 
We  should  not  certainly  think  favourably  of  a  physician's 
prudence,  wiio,  in  the  beginning  of  a  disease,  when  gentle 
remedies  were  likely  to  prove  eifectual,  should  propose  the 
burning  or  cutting  ofi"  the  part  infected.  There  are  two 
species  of  inquisition.  The  one  is  exercised  in  the  name 
of  the  Pope,  and  the  other  has  been  long  practised  by  the 
bishops.  To  the  latter,  men  are,  in  some  measure,  reconciled 
by  the  power  of  custom ;  and  considering  how  well  we 
are  now  provided  with  bishops  in  all  the  provinces,  it  may 
reasonably  be  expected  that  this  sort  will  alone  be  found 
sufficient.  The  former  has  been,  and  will  forever  be,  an  ob- 
ject of  abhorrence,  and  ought  to  be  abolished  without  delay. 
"  With  respect  to  those  edicts  which  have  been  so  often 
published  against  the  innovators  in  religion,  hearken  not  to 


C60  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [ch.  vi. 

me,  but  to  your  own  experience,  which  will  inform  you, 
that  the  persecutions  to  which  they  have  given  rise,  have 
served  only  to  increase  and  propagate  the  errors  against 
which  the}'  liave  been  exercised.  The  Netherlands  have, 
for  several  years,  been  a  school,  in  which,  if  we  have  not 
been  extremely  inattentive,  we  may  have  learned  the  folly 
of  persecution.  Men  do  not  for  nothing  forego  the  advan- 
tages of  life ;  much  less  do  they  expose  themselves  to  tor- 
ture and  death  for  nothing.  The  contempt  of  death  and 
pain,  exhibited  by  heretics  in  suffering  for  their  religion, 
is  calculated  to  produce  the  most  powerful  etiects  on  the 
minds  of  spectators.  It  works  on  their  compassion,  it  ex- 
cites their  admiration  of  the  sufferers,  and  creates  in  them 
a  suspicion,  that  truth  must  certainly  be  found  where  they 
observe  so  much  constancy  and  fortitude.  Heretics  have 
been  treated  with  the  same  severity  in  France  and  England 
as  in  the  Low  Countries.  But  has  it  been  attended  with 
better  success  ?  On  the  contrary,  is  there  not  reason,  there 
as  well  as  here,  to  say  what  was  said  of  the  Christians  of 
old,  That  the  blood  of  the  martyrs  is  the  seed  of  the  church. 
The  Emperor  Juhan,  the  most  formidable  enemy  that 
Christianity  ever  had,  was  fully  sensible  of  the  truth  of 
this.  Harassing  and  tormenting  could  only  serve,  he  knew, 
to  inflame  that  ardent  zeal  which  he  wanted  to  extinguish. 
He  had  recourse  therefore  to  the  expedient  of  ridicule  and 
contempt ;  and  this  he  found  to  be  more  efl'ectual.  The 
Grecian  empire  was,  at  different  periods,  infected  with  he- 
resies of  various  kinds,  ^^rius  taught  errors  in  the  reign 
of  Constance  ;  Nestorius  in  that  of  Theodosius ;  Arius  in 
that  of  Constantine.  No  such  punishments  were  inflicted, 
either  on  the  heresiarchs  themselves  or  on  their  disciples,  as 
are  now  practised  in  the  Netherlands  ',  and  yet  where  are 
all  those  false  opinions  now,  which  the  first  broachers  were 
at  so  much  pains  to  propagate  ?  Such  is  the  nature  of  he- 
resy, if  it  rests,  it  rusts ;  but  he  who  rubs  it,  whets  it.  Let 
it  be  neglected  and  overlooked,  it  will  soon  lose  the  charm 
of  novelty  ;   and  with  that,  it  will  lose  the  greatest  part  of 


SECT.  III.]    The  Council  of  Tumults  instituted.  261 

its  attractive  power.  Bat  they  are  not  the  examples  only  of 
heathen  princes  which  I  would  recommend  to  the  regent's 
imitation.  In  complying  with  my  advice,  she  will  tread  in 
the  steps  of  our  late  glorious  Emperor,  her  father ;  who, 
from  experience,  was  convinced,  that  gentle  measures  were 
more  likely  to  prove  effectual  than  severe  ones  ;  and,  there- 
fore, adopted  the  former,  in  preference  to  the  latter,  for  se- 
veral years  before  his  resignation. 

"The  king  himself  appeared,  at  a  certain  period,  incli- 
ned to  make  trial  of  mild  expedients.  But,  through  the  in- 
fluence of  the  bishops  and  other  ecclesiastics,  he  has  chan- 
ged his  views.  Let  these  men  answer  for  their  conduct  if 
the}'  can.  For  my  own  part,  1  am  entirely  satisfied  that  it 
is  impossible  to  root  out  the  present  evils  in  the  Nelherlaiuls 
by  force,  without  shaking  the  state  from  its  foundation.  I 
conclude  with  reminding  you  of  what  we  have  all  heard 
frequently,  that  the  Protestants  in  the  Low  Countries  have 
opened  a  correspondence  with  those  in  France.  Let  us 
beware  of  irritating  them  more  than  we  have  already 
done,  lest,  by  imitating  the  French  Catholics  in  their  seve- 
rity, we,  like  them,  involve  our  country  in  the  dreadful 
miseries  of  a  civil  war." 

The  regent  finding  that  her  situation  became  every  day 
more  critical,  informed  the  king  of  it,  who  immediately 
sent  the  Duke  of  Alva,  a  nobleman  of  the  most  imperious 
character,  tyrannical  and  vindictive  in  the  extreme,  to  exe- 
cute his  pleasure  in  the  Netherlands,  armed  with  full  power 
to  punish  or  to  pardon  crimes  of  every  sort.  lie  began  his 
administration  with  publishing  a  declaration,  that  a  month 
should  be  allowed  to  the  reformers  for  preparing  to  leave 
the  country,  without  receiving,  during  that  space,  any  trou- 
ble or  molestation,  and  at  the  same  time  he  issued  secret 
orders  to  the  inquisitors  to  proceed  immediately  in  the  exe- 
cution of  their  edicts  with  the  utmost  rigour.  To  assist  and 
encourage  these  men  in  the  exercise  of  their  office,  he  in- 
stituted a  new  council,  to  which  he  gave  the  name  of  the 
Council  of  Tumults,  which  he  appointed  to  take  cognizance 

Vol.  II.  2  M 


262  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [ch.  vi 

of  the  late  disorders,  and  to  search  after  and  punish  all 
those  who  had  been  concerned,  directly  or  indirectly,  in 
promoting  them.  This  council  consisted  of  twelve  persons, 
the  greatest  part  of  whom  were  Spaniards.  The  duke  was 
the  president  himself,  and,  in  his  absence,  Vargas,  a  Spanish 
lawyer,  distinguished  above  all  his  countrj'men  by  his  ava- 
rice and  cruelty. 

One  of  the  first  deeds  of  this  tribunal,  which  might  well 
be  called,  as  the  Flemings  termed  it,  the  Council  of  Blood, 
was  to  declare,  That  to  have  presented  or  subscribed  any 
petition  against  the  late  erection  of  bishopricks,  or  against 
the  edicts  or  Inquisition,  or  to  have  permitted  the  exercise 
of  the  new  religion  mider  any  pretence  whatever  ;  or  to 
insinuate  by  word  of  mouth  or  writing,  that  the  king  has 
no  right  to  abolish  those  pretended  privileges  which  have 
been  the  source  of  so  much  impiety,  is  treason  against  the 
king,  and  justly  merits  the  severest  punishment  he  shall  be 
pleased  to  inflict. 

The  governor  had  already  stationed  his  army  in  such 
a  manner  as  he  thought  would  most  efl'ectually  secure  the 
execution  of  this  cruel,  undistinguishing  resolution  of  the 
council.  In  Antwerp  he  built  a  citadel,  and  compelled  the 
inhabitants  to  defray  the  expense  which  this  instrument  of 
their  own  slavery  had  cost  him.  He  began  to  build  cita- 
dels in  other  places ;  and,  in  the  mean-time,  he  spread  his 
troops  over  the  country  in  such  formidable  bodies,  that  the 
people,  over  whom  they  exercised  the  most  oppressive  ty- 
ranny, either  forsook  their  habitations,  or  gave  themselves 
up  to  despair.  Above  twenty  thousand  persons  escaped,  at 
this  time,  into  France,  England,  and  the  Protestant  provin- 
ces of  Germany.  Great  numbers  were  prevented  from  fly- 
ing, and  seized  whilst  they  were  meditating  flight,  by  the 
cruel  hand  of  the  persecutor.  The  innocent  were  over- 
whelmed with  horror  at  the  sight  of  the  dreadful  punish- 
ments indicted  on  the  guilty;  and  lamented  that  this  once 
flourishing  country,  so  much  distinguished  for  the  mildness 
of  its  government  and  the  happiness  of  its  people,  should 


SECT.  III.]      Cruelties  toicards  the  Protestants.  2G3 

now  present  no  other  object  to  view,  but  confiscations,  im- 
prisoinncnts,  and  blood. 

There  was  no  distinction  made  of  age,  sex,  or  condition. 
Persons  in  their  earliest  youth  ;  persons  worn  out,  and 
ready  to  sink  under  the  infirmities  of  age ;  persons  of  the 
highest  rank,  as  well  as  the  lowest  of  the  people,  on  the 
slightest  evidence,  sometimes  even  on  bare  suspicion,  were 
alike  sacrificed  to  the  rapacity  and  cruelty  of  the  governor 
and  his  associates. 

Although  in  the  space  of  a  (ew  months  upwards  of 
eighteen  hundred  persons  sulfered  by  the  hand  of  the  ex- 
ecutioner ;  yet  the  Duke  of  Alva's  thirst  of  blood  was  not 
satiated.  Prisoners  were  not  brought  in  so  fast,  nor  seized 
in  such  considerable  numbers,  as  he  desired.  The  time  of 
Carnival  was  approaching,  when  he  expected  that  he  should 
find  the  Reformers  ofl'  their  guard.  Tiiey  would  then 
leave  their  skulking-place,  he  supposed,  and  visit  their  fa- 
milies, while  the  Catholics  were  immersed  in  mirth  and  dis- 
sipation. On  this  occasion  his  soldiers,  accompanied  by 
the  inquisitors,  like  so  many  wolves,  were  let  loose  among 
tlie  Protestants  ;  who  were  seized  in  the  middle  of  the 
night  in  their  beds,  and  from  thence  dragged  to  prisons 
and  dungeons. 

Many  who  had  been  only  once  present  at  the  Protestant 
assemblies,  even  although  they  declared  their  faith  in  the 
Catholic  religion  to  be  firm  and  unshaken,  were  hanged  or 
drowned  :  while  those  who  professed  themselves  to  be  Pro- 
testants, or  refused  to  abjure  their  religion,  were  put  to  the 
rack,  in  order  to  make  them  discover  tiieir  associates  ;  they 
were  then  dragged  by  horses  to  the  place  of  execution, 
and  their  bodies  being  committed  to  the  llames,  their  suf- 
ferings were  prolonged  with  ingenious  cruelty.* 

*  Should  it  appear  to  any,  that  this  section  is  a  digression  from  the 
history  of  the  Waldenses,  the  author  llatters  himself  that  he  shall  find 
some  apology  for  its  introduction,  in  t/ie  aspect  of  the  present  times — 
the  revival  of  the  lately  expiring-  cause  of  Antichrist — the  restoration 
of  the  Society  of  the  Jesuits,  and  the  recent  persecution  of  tlie  Pro- 
testants in  the  South  of  France.     For  although  the  cause  of  civil  and 


2(}4  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [cii.  vi. 

To  prevent  them  from  bearing  testimony,  in  the  midst 
of  tiieir  torments,  to  the  truth  of  their  profession,  their 
executioners  were  not  satisfied  with  barely  confining  their 
tongues  ;  thc}'  first  scorched  them  with  a  glowing  iron,  and 
tlien  screwed  them  into  a  machine,  contrived  on  purpose  to 
produce  the  most  excrutiating  pain. 

It  is  shocking  to  recount  the  numberless  instances  of  in- 
human cruelt}^  perpetrated  by  Alva  and  his  associates,  espe- 
cially when  we  consider  that  the  unhappy  victims  were  not 
those  hardened  wretches,  who,  by  daring  and  bloody  deeds, 
are  guilty  of  violating  the  laws  of  nature  and  humanity,  but 
were  generally  persons  of  the  most  inoffensive  characters ; 
who,  having  imbibed  the  new  opinions  in  religion,  had  too 
much  probity  to  disguise  their  sentiments  ;  or,  at  the  worst, 
had  been  betrayed  into  indiscretions  by  their  zeal  for  pro- 
pagating truths,  which  they  believed  to  be  of  the  highest 
importance  to  the  glory  of  God  and  the  happiness  of  men, 

Alva  communicated  a  great  share  of  his  savage  spirit  to 
the  inferior  magistrates ;  who  knew  that  they  could  not 
recommend  themselves  more  effectually  either  to  the  king 
or  to  the  governor,  than  by  the  exercise  of  rigour  and 
severity.  Several  of  them,  however,  whose  immanity  pre- 
vailed over  the  considerations  of  safety  and  interest,  were 
induced  to  give  the  Protestants  timely  warning  to  with- 
draw. Even  the  members  of  the  bloody  council  began  to 
feel  their  hearts  revolt  against  the  reiterated  instances  of 
cruelty,  to  which  their  sanction  was  required.  Some  of 
them  applied  for  dismission  ;  others  had  the  courage  to 
absent  themselves ;  and  out  of  the  twelve,   of  which   the 

religious  liberty'  never  had  a  more  decided  friend,  however  mnch  he 
may  rejoice  to  think  that  it  has  had  many  abler  advocates ;  and 
though  he  trusts  he  shall  never  act  the  inconsistent  part  of  wishing 
to  deprive  a  Catholic  of  any  right  or  privilege  which  he  would  be  dis- 
posed to  claim  for  himself;  yet  he  considers  it  perfectly  congenial  with 
this,  to  do  every  thing  in  his  power,  consistent  with  truth,  and  by  an 
impartial  statement  of  facts,  to  inculcate  upon  his  brethren  a  due  con- 
sideration of  the  persecuting  spirit  of  Popery. — and  to  warn  them  of 
the  insidious  artifices  of  the  Jesuitical  emissaries  of  the  Court  of 
Home. 


SECT.  III.]  Inexorahle  temper  of  Philip.  265 

council  was  composed,  there  were  seldom  above  three  or 
four  present. 

About  this  time  the  magistrates  of  Antwerp,  whose  be- 
haviour from  the  beginning  of  Alva's  administration  had 
been  extremely  obsequious,  thought  they  might  venture  to 
interpose  in  favour  of  certain  citizens  whom  the  inquisitors 
had  imprisoned.  Their  petition  was  conceived  in  the  hum- 
blest terms ;  and  they  represented,  that  although  the  per- 
sons for  whom  they  pleaded,  had  been  present  two  or  three 
times  in  the  Protestant  assemblies,  yet  it  was  only  curiosity 
that  had  led  them  thither ;  they  were  still  true  sons  of  the 
church,  and  faithful  subjects  to  the  king ;  and  they  had 
remained  in  the  country  till  the  time  of  their  imprison- 
ment, on  the  faith  of  the  declaration  which  the  governor 
had  made,  that  they  should  not  receive  any  disturbance  on 
account  of  what  had  passed,  till  the  expiration  of  a  month 
after  his  arrival  in  the  Netherlands. 

To  this  petition  Alva  haughtily  replied,  that  he  was 
amazed  at  their  folly  in  presuming  to  apply  to  him  in  be- 
half of  heretics ;  and  they  should  have  reason,  he  add- 
ed, to  repent  bitterly  of  their  conduct,  if  they  did  not  act 
more  prudently'  in  future;  for  they  might  rest  assured,  that 
he  would  hang  them  all,  for  an  example  to  deter  others 
from  the  like  presumption. 

Notwithstanding  this,  some  of  the  Catholic  nobility,  and 
Viglius,  who  had  formerly  concurred  in  all  the  arbitary 
measures  of  Granvelle,  but  whose  heart  melted  at  the  pre- 
sent misery  of  his  countrymen,  had  the  courage  to  remon- 
strate to  the  king  against  the  governor's  barbarity.  Even 
the  Pope  exhorted  him  to  greater  moderation.  Philip, 
however,  refused  to  countermand  the  orders  which  he  had 
given,  till  he  should  hear  from  V^argas  ;  who  advised  him 
to  persevere  in  the  plan  which  he  had  adopted,  assured  him 
of  its  success,  and  at  the  same  time  flattered  him  with  the 
hopes  of  an  inexhaustible  fund  of  wealth  that  would  arise 
from  confiscation.  Vargas  being  seconded  b}'  the  inquisi- 
tors at  Madrid,  Philip  lent  a  deaf  ear  to  the  remonstrance 


vOO  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [cH.  vi. 

which  had  been  made  to  him,  and  the  persecutions  were 
continued  with  the  same  unrelenting  fury  as  before. 

The  people  of  the  Netherlands  were  confirmed  m  their 
despair  of  obtaining  mercy  from  Philip,  by  the  accounts 
transmitted  to  them,  at  this  time,  from  Spain,  of  his  cruel 
treatment  of  his  son  Don  Carlos.  Various  relations  are 
given  of  that  tragical  and  mysterious  affair  by  the  cotem- 
pory  historians  ;  but  the  following  appears  the  most  con- 
sistent and  probable.  This  young  prince  had  from  his 
earliest  youth  been  noted  for  the  impetuosity  and  violence 
of  his  temper  ;  and  though  he  never  gave  reason  to  think 
favourably  of  his  understanding,  or  his  capacity  for  govern- 
ment, he  had  discovered  the  most  intemperate  ambition  to 
be  admitted  by  his  father  to  a  share  in  the  administration 
of  his  dominions.  Philip,  whether  from  jealousy,  or  a 
conviction  of  his  son's  unfitness  for  any  important  trust, 
refused  to  gratify  his  ambition,  and  behaved  towards  him 
with  distance  and  reserve  ;  while  he  gave  all  his  confidence 
to  the  Duke  of  Alva,  Ruy  Gomez  de  Sylva,  and  the  presi- 
dent Spinosa ;  against  whom  Don  Carlos,  partly  on  this 
account,  and  partly  because  he  considered  them  as  spies 
upon  his  conduct,  had  conceived  the  most  irreconcilable 
aversion.  In  this  disposition  he  did  not  scruple,  on  dif- 
ferent occasions,  to  censure  the  measures  of  his  father's 
government,  and  particularl\-  those  which  had  been  adopt- 
ed ii>  the  Netherlands.  He  had  sometimes  expressed  his 
compassion  for  the  people  there ;  had  threatened  the  Duke 
of  Alva,  and  even  made  an  attempt  upon  his  life,  for  ac- 
cepting the  government ;  had  been  suspected  of  holding 
secret  interviews  with  the  Marquis  of  Mons  and  the  Baron 
<le  Montigny ;  and  had  afterwards  formed  the  design  of 
retiring  into  the  Netherlands,  with  an  intention  to  put  him- 
self at  the  head  of  the  malecontents. 

Of  this  design  intelligence  was  carried,  by  some  of  the 
courtiers,  to  the  king;  who,  after  having  consulted  with 
the  inquisitors,  at  Madrid,  as  he  usually  did  in  matters 
of  great  importance  and  difficulty,  resolved  to  prevent  the 


SECT.  III.]  Death  of  Don    Carlos.  267 

prince  from  putting  his  scheme  into  execution,  by  depri- 
ving him  of  his  liberty.  For  this  purpose  he  went  into  his 
chamber  in  the  middle  of  the  night  attended  by  some  of 
his  privy  counsellors  and  guards  ;  and,  after  reproaching 
him  with  his  undutiful  behaviour,  told  him  that  he  had 
come  to  exercise  his  paternal  correction  and  chastisement. 
Then  having  dismissed  all  his  attendants,  he  commanded 
him  to  be  clothed  in  a  dark  coloured  mourning  dress,  and 
appointed  guards  to  watch  over  him,  and  to  confine  him 
to  his  chamber.  The  high-spirited  young  prince  was  ex- 
tremely shocked  at  such  unworthy  treatment,  and  prayed 
his  father  and  his  attendants  to  put  an  immediate  end  to 
his  life.  He  threw  himself  headlong  into  the  fire,  and 
would  have  put  an  end  to  his  life  had  he  not  been  prevent- 
ed by  the  guards.  During  his  confinement,  his  despair  and 
anguish  rose  to  a  degree  of  fi'enzy.  He  would  fast  some- 
times for  whole  days  together,  then  eat  voraciously,  and 
endeavour  to  choke  himself  by  swallowing  his  victuals  with- 
out chewing.  Several  princes  interceded  for  his  release, 
as  did  many  of  the  principal  Spanish  nobles.  But  his 
father  was  relentless  and  inexorable.  After  six  months 
imprisonment,  he  caused  the  inquisition  of  Madrid  to  pass 
sentence  against  his  son,  and,  under  the  cover  of  that  sen- 
tence, ordered  poison  to  be  given  him,  which  in  a  few 
hours  put  a  period  to  his  miserable  fife,  at  the  age  of 
twenty-three. 

Philip  had,  before  this  time,  given  a  proof  of  the  cruelty 
of  his  disposition;  when,  as  above  related,  he  chose  to  be 
present  at  the  execution  of  his  Protestant  subjects  in  Spain. 
His  singular  conduct  on  that  occasion,  and  the  composure 
widi  which  he  beheld  the  torments  of  the  unhappy  suflerers, 
were  ascribed  by  some  to  the  power  of  superstition;  while 
they  were  regarded  by  others,  as  the  most  convincing  evi- 
dence of  the  sincerity  of  his  zeal  for  the  true  religion.  But 
his  severity  towards  his  son  did  not  admit  of  any  such  in- 
terpretation. It  was  considered  by  all  the  world  as  a  proof 
that  his  heai't  was  dead  to  the  sentiments  of  natural  afl'ec- 


2(38  Hislory  of  the  Chrisllan  Church.  [CH.  vi. 

tion  and  humanity;  and  liis  subjects  were  everywhere  filled 
with  astonishment.  It  struck  terror,  in  a  particular  man- 
ner, into  the  inhabitants  of  the  Low  Countries;  who  saw 
how  vain  it  was  to  expect  mercy  from  a  prince,  who  had 
so  obstinately  refused  to  exercise  it  towards  his  own  son; 
whose  only  crime,  they  believed,  was  his  attachment  to 
them,  and  his  compassion  for  their  calamities.* 


si:cTZ03>r  iv. 

Tlie  history  of  the  Waldenses  continued,  from  the  middle  of 
the  sixteenth  to  the  beginning  of  the  seventeenth  century. 

A.  D.  1551—1600. 

Among  the  distinguished  favours  which  it  hath  pleased 
the  Father  of  Lights  to  confer  upon  mankind,  the  inven- 
tion of  the  art  of  printing  has  been,  in  its  consequences, 
none  of  the  least  beneficial.  Before  this  discovery,  learning 
was  accessible  to  none  but  persons  of  princely  fortunes; 
but  by  this  means  it  was  brought  within  the  reach  of  almost 
every  one;  and  that  information  became  generally  diffused 
which  was  necessary  to  subvert  the  cause  of  tyranny  and 
superstition;  thus,  through  the  overruling  providence  of 
God,  the  art  of  printing  turned  out  to  be  one  of  the  most 
important  events  that  have  happened  since  the  first  pro- 
mulgation of  the  gospel.  Knowledge,  which  had  indeed 
been  gaining  ground  for  some  centuries  before,  was  now 
wonderfully  accelerated  in  its  progress.  The  light  acquired 
by  one,  was  quickly  diffused  abroad,  and  communicated  to 
multitudes.  The  facility  of  communication  brought  learn- 
ing within  the  reach  of  the  middle  ranks — the  dead  lan- 
guages became  a  general  object  of  study — the  Scriptures! 

*  Watson's  History  of  Philip  II..  Vol.  I.  b.  viii. 


SECT.  IV.]      Invention  of  the  Art  of  Printing.  269 

began  to  be  consulted,  not  only  in  the  Latin  Vulgate,  but 
also  in  the  Greek — reading  produced  reflection,  and  thus 
diffused  a  light  which  it  was  no  longer  possible  to  conceal 
under  a  bushel.  It  would  have  been  strange  indeed,  had 
the  advocates  of  a  system  which  was  founded  in  ignorance, 
expressed  no  apprehensions  of  alarm  at  the  introduction  of 
these  novelties.  The  faculty  of  theology  at  Paris  declared 
before  the  assembled  Parliament,  that  religion  was  undone, 
if  the  study  of  Greek  and  Hebrew  was  permitted.  But  the 
language  of  the  monks  of  those  days  is  still  more  amusing. 
We  are  hiformed  by  Conrad  of  Heresbach,  a  very  grave 
and  respectable  author  of  that  period,  that  one  of  their 
number  is  said  thus  to  have  expressed  himself  "They 
have  invented  a  new  language,  which  they  call  Greek; 
you  must  be  carefully  on  your  guard  against  it;  it  is  the 
mother  of  all  heresy.  I  observe  in  the  hands  of  many 
persons  a  book  written  in  that  language,  which  they  call 
the  New  Testament.  It  is  a  book  full  of  daggers  and  poi- 
son. As  to  the  Hebrew,  my  dear  brethren,  it  is  certain 
that  all  those  who  learn  it  immediately  become  Jews."* 

The  art  of  printing,  which  originated  with  John  Guttem- 
berg,  a  citizen  of  Mentz,  was  first  attempted  by  him  at 
Strasburg,  from  1436  to  1440.  His  efforts,  which  were,  no 
doubt,  at  first  very  rude  and  indigested,  had  been  greatly 
matured  by  skill  and  experience  in  the  course  of  a  century; 
and,  consequently,  about  the  year  1535,  we  find  the  Wal- 
denses  of  Piedmont  anxious  to  avail  themselves  of  it,  with 
a  view  to  a  more  general  circulation  of  the  word  of  life. 
Hitherto  they  had  been  obliged  to  confine  themselves  to 
manuscripts;  and,  in  the  Wuldensian  tongue,  they  seem 
not  to  have  generally  possessed  an  entire  version  of  the 
whole  Bible,  but  the  New  Testament  only,  and  some  par- 
ticular books  of  the  Old.  They  now,  however,  contracted 
with  a  printer  at  Neufchatel,  in  Switzerland,  for  an  entire 

*  See  Villers'  Essay  on  the  Reformation,  by  Luther,  translated  by 
Mill,  p.  94.  note.— And  Mr.  Cox's  Life  of  Melancthon,  p.  29. 

Voi..  II.  2  N 


270  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [ch.  vi, 

impression  of  the  whole  Bible  in  French,  for  the  sinii  of 
fifteen  hundred  crowii-  of  gold.  An  elaborate  preface, 
somewhat  too  declamatory  for  a  publication  of  that  kind, 
was  prefixed  by  Robert  Olivetan,  who  appears  to  have 
been  one  of  their  number,  and  who  professes  to  have  trans- 
lated it  for  the  use  of  the  churches.  Both  Perrin  and  Sir 
Samuel  Morland  aflirm  this  to  have  been  the  first  French 
Bible  that  was  printed  and  published ;  and  on  their  autho- 
rity I  had  so  stated  the  fact  in  the  first  edition  of  this  work. 
But  on  consulting  Du  Pin  on  the  Canon,  I  am  now  con- 
vinced that  this  is  a  mistake.  The  words  of  the  latter  are, 
"The  first  edition  of  the  French  Bible,  [printed]  in  the 
year  1530,  is  to  be  seen  in  the  French  king's  library;  the 
second,  of  the  year  1534,  is  larger,  and  extant  in  the  libra- 
ries of  St.  Germain  de  Prez,  and  of  St.  Geneviese.  These 
two  editions  are  prior  to  that  of  Robert  Olivetan,  [which 
was]  the  first  done  by  the  Protestants  in  the  year  1535."* 

The  works  of  Luther,  of  Calvin,  and  others  of  the  re- 
formers, beginning,  about  this  time,  to  be  in  general  use, 
they  sent  Martin  Gonin,  one  of  their  number,  to  Geneva, 
to  procure  a  supply  of  such  books  as  he  should  think  cal- 
culated to  promote  the  instruction  of  the  people.  But  on 
his  journey  he  was  unfortunately  apprehended  under  sus- 
picion of  being  a  spy;  and  a  discovery  being  made  that 
he  was  a  Waldensian,  he  was  sent  for  safety  to  Grenoble, 
and  there  thrown  into  prison.  The  inquisitors  having  been 
made  acquainted  with  the  case,  he  was,  by  their  advice, 
cast  into  the  river  Lyzere,  during  the  night,  for  this  im- 
portant reason,  as  given  by  the  inquisitor,  that  it  was  not 
expedient  the  world  should  hear  him  declare  his  faith,  lest 
those  who  heard  him  should  become  worse  than  himself  f 

It  was  formerly  noticed,  that  in  the  year  1560,  the  Wal- 
denses  in  Calabria  formed  a  junction  with  Calvin's  church 
at  Geneva.     The   consequence   of  this  was,  that  several 


*  Du  Pin  on  the  Canon,  &c.,  Vol.  I.  p.  217. 
•f  Perrin's  Waldenses,  b.  ii.  ch.  iv. 


SF.CT.  IV.]  Destruction  of  the  Waldensesin  Calabria.     271 

pastors  or  public  teachers  went  from  the  neighbourhood  of 
Geneva  to  settle  with  the  churches  in  Calabria.  It  seems 
probable  that  this  circumstance  had  contributed  to  revive 
the  pi'ofession  in  Calabria,  or  at  least  had  brought  the 
Waldenses  more  into  public  notice  than  they  had  hitherto 
been ;  and  it  spread  an  alarm  among  the  Catholics,  which 
reached  the  ears  of  Pope  Pius  IV.  Measures  were,  there- 
fore, immediately  taken  for  wholly  exterminating  the  Wal- 
denses in  that  quarter;  and  a  scene  of  carnage  ensued, 
which,  in  enormity,  has  seldom  been  exceeded.  Two  monks 
were  first  sent  to  the  inhabitants  of  St.  Xist,  who  assem- 
bled the  people,  and  by  a  smooth  harangue,  endeavoured 
to  persuade  them  to  desist  from  hearing  these  new  teachers, 
whom  they  knew  they  had  lately  received  from  Geneva; 
promising  them,  in  case  of  compliance,  every  advantage 
they  could  wish ;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  plainly  intimating 
that  the}'  would  subject  themselves  to  be  condemned  as 
heretics,  and  to  forfeit  their  lives  and  fortunes,  if  they  re- 
fused to  return  to  the  church  of  Rome.  And  at  once  to 
bring  matters  to  the  test,  they  caused  a  bell  to  be  immedi- 
ately tolled  for  mass,  commanding  the  people  to  attend. 
Instead  of  complying,  however,  the  Waldenses  forsook 
their  houses,  and  as  many  as  were  able  fled  to  the  woods, 
with  their  wives  and  children.  Two  companies  of  soldiers 
were  instantly  ordered  out  to  pursue  them,  who  hunted 
them  like  wild  beasts,  crying,  Amassa,  Jlmassa,  tliat  is,  kill, 
kill !  and  numbers  were  put  to  death.  Such  as  reached 
the  tops  of  the  mountains,  procured  the  privilege  of  being 
heard  in  their  own  defence.  They  stated,  that  they  and 
their  forefathers  had  now  for  several  ages  been  residents  of 
that  country — that  during  all  that  period  their  lives  and 
conversation  had  been  irreproachable — that  they  ardently 
wished  to  remain  there,  if  they  should  be  allowed  to  con- 
tinue unmolested  in  the  profession  of  their  faith,  but  that  if 
this  were  denied  them,  the}'  implored  their  pursuers  to  have 
pity  on  their  wives  and  children,  and  to  permit  them  to 
retire,  under  the  providence  of  God,  either  by  sea  or  land, 


272  Histori/  of  the  Christian  Church.         [ch.  vi, 

wherever  it  should  please  the  Lord  to  conduct  them — that 
they  would  very  cheerfully  sacrifice  all  their  worldly  pos- 
sessions rather  than  fall  into  idolatry.  They,  therefore, 
entreated,  in  the  name  of  all  that  was  sacred,  that  they  might 
not  be  reduced  to  the  necessity  of  defending  themselves, 
which,  if  they  were  compelled  to  do,  must  be  at  the  peril  of 
those  who  forced  them  to  such  extremities.  This  expostu- 
lation ouly  exasperated  the  soldiers,  who  immediately  rush- 
ing upon  them  in  the  most  impetuous  manner,  a  terrible 
aflVa}^  ensued,  in  which  several  lives  were  lost,  and  the 
military  at  last  put  to  llight. 

The  inquisitors,  on  this,  wrote  to  the  Viceroy  of  Naples, 
urging  him  to  send  them  some  companies  of  soldiers,  to 
apprehend  certain  heretics  of  St.  Xist  and  de  la  Garde, 
who  had  fled  into  the  woods;  at  the  same  time  apprising 
him  that  by  ridding  the  church  of  such  a  plague,  he  would 
perform  what  was  acceptable  to  tlie  Pope  and  meritorious 
to  himselt".  The  viceroy  cheerfully  obeyed  the  summons, 
and  marched  at  the  head  of  his  troops  to  the  city  of  St. 
Xist,  where,  on  his  arrival,  he  caused  it  to  be  proclaimed 
by  sound  of  trumpet,  that  the  place  was  condemned  to  fire 
and  sword.  Proclamation  Avas  at  the  same  time  made 
throughout  the  kingdom  of  Naples,  inviting  persons  to 
come  to  the  war  against  the  heretics  of  St.  Xist,  and  pro- 
mising as  a  recompense  the  customary  advantages.  Num- 
bers consequently  flocked  to  his  standard,  and  were  con- 
ducted to  the  woods  and  mountains  whither  the  Waldenses 
had  sought  an  asylum.  Here  they  chased  them  so  furi- 
ously, that  the  greater  part  were  slain  by  the  sword,  and 
the  rest  wounded  and  destitute,  retired  into  caverns  upon 
the  tops  of  the  rocks,  where  they  perished  by  famine. 

Having  accomplished  their  wishes  on  the  fugitives  from 
St.  Xist,  they  next  proceeded  to  la  Garde,  and*  appre- 
hended seventy  persons ;  who  were  brought  before  the  in- 
quisitor Penza,  at  Montauld.  This  merciless  bigot  caused 
them  to  be  stretched  upon  the  rack,  with  the  view  of  ex- 
torting from  them  a  confession  of  adultery  and  other  abo- 


SECT.  IV.]   Persecution  of  the  Waldenses  in  Calabria.  273 

minable  practices  too  filthy  to  be  mentioned ;  in  no  one 
instance  of  which  did  he  succeed,  though  their  tortures  in 
many  instances  were  so  violent  as  to  extinguish  life.  A 
person  of  the  name  of  Marson  was  stripped  naked  and 
beat  with  rods,  then  drawn  through  the  streets  and  burni 
witii  firebrands.  One  of  his  sons  was  assassinated,  and 
another  led  to  the  top  of  a  tower  where  a  crucifix  was 
presented  to  him,  with  a  promise  that  if  he  would  salute  it, 
his  life  should  be  spared.  The  youth  replied,  that  he 
would  rather  die  than  commit  idolatry,  'and  as  to  their 
threats  of  casting  him  headlong  from  the  tower,  he  pre- 
ferred that  his  body  should  be  dashed  in  pieces  on  the 
earth,  to  having  his  soul  cast  into  hell  for  denying  Christ 
and  his  truth.  The  inquisitor  enraged  at  his  answer,  com- 
manded him  instantly  to  be  precipitated,  "that  we  may 
see,"  said  he,  "whether  his  God  will  preserve  him." 

Bernardine  Conde  was  condemned  to  be  burnt  alive.  As 
they  led  him  to  the  stake,  a  crucifix  was  put  into  his  hands, 
which  he  threw  to  the  ground.  The  enraged  inquisitor 
sent  him  back  to  prison,  and  to  aggravate  his  torture  he 
was  first  smeared  over  with  pitch  and  then  committed  to 
the  flames.  The  same  inquisitor  Penza  caused  the  throats 
of  eighty  of  them  to  be  cut,  just  as  butchers  slaughter  their 
sheep ;  their  bodies  were  afterwards  divided  into  four  quar- 
ters, and  the  public  way  between  Montauld  and  Castle 
Viller,  for  the  space  of  thirty  miles,  was  planted  with 
stakes,  and  a  quarter  of  the  human  frame  stuck  upon  each 
of  them.  Four  of  the  principal  inhabitants  of  la  Garde, 
viz.  James  Fermar,  Anthony  Palomb,  Peter  Jacio,  and 
John  Morglia  were,  by  his  order,  hanged,  in  a  place  called 
Moran ;  but  they  met  their  deaths  with  surprising  fortitude. 
A  young  man,  of  the  name  of  Samson,  defended  himself 
dexterously  for  a  length  of  time  against  those  who  came 
to  apprehend  him;  but  being  wounded,  he  was  seized  and 
led  to  the  top  of  a  tower,  whei-e  he  was  commanded  to 
confess  himself  to  a  priest  then  present,  before  he  was  cast 
down.     This,  however,  he  refused,   adding  that  he  had 


274  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [gh.  vi. 

already  confessed  himself  to  God,  on  which  he  was  cast 
lieadlong  from  the  tower.  The  following  day  the  viceroy, 
walking  at  the  foot  of  the  tower,  saw  the  unhappy  youth 
still  alive,  but  languishing  in  tortures,  having  nearly  all  his 
bones  broken.  The  monster  kicked  him  on  the  head  and 
said,  "Is  the  dog  yet  alive?  give  him  to  the  hogs." 

This  is  only  a  specimen  of  the  brutal  outrages  that  were 
carried  on  at  this  time  against  the  Waldenses  in  Calabria; 
but  the  reader  will,  probably,  think  it  quite  sufficient. 
Pope  Pius  IV.  'was  so  resolutely  bent  upon  ridding  the 
country  of  them,  that  he  afterwards  sent  the  Marquis  of 
Butiane  to  perfect  what  was  left  undone,  with  a  promise 
that  if  he  succeeded  in  clearing  Calabria  of  the  Waldenses, 
lie  would  give  his  son  a  cardinal's  hat.  He,  indeed,  found 
but  little  difficulty  in  effecting  it;  for  the  inquisitorial 
monks  and  Viceroy  of  Naples  had  already  put  to  death  so 
many,  transporting  others  to  the  Spanish  galleys,  and  ba- 
nishing all  fugitives,  selling  or  slaying  their  wives  and 
children,  that  not  much  remained  for  the  marquis  to  ac- 
complish. 

Of  their  pastors,  Stephen  Megrin  was  imprisoned  at 
Cossence,  and  literally  starved  to  death.  Lewis  Pascal 
was  conveyed  to  Rome,  and  there  condemned  to  be  burnt 
alive.  As  this  man  had  been  remarkable  for  his  zeal,  and 
the  confidence  with  which  he  had  maintained  the  Pope  to 
be  Antichrist,  he  was  reserved  as  a  gratifying  spectacle  for 
his  holiness  and  the  conclave  of  cardinals,  who  were  pre- 
sent at  his  death.  But  such  was  the  address  which  Pascal 
delivered  to  the  people,  from  the  word  of  God,  that  the 
Pope  would  gladly  have  wished  himself  elsewhere,  or  that 
Pascal  had  been  dumb  and  the  people  deaf!  The  account 
that  is  given  us  of  his  dying  behaviour,  can  scarcely  fail  to 
remind  one  of  the  case  of  the  martyr  Stephen ;  and  his 
ardent  zeal  in  the  cause  of  Christ,  added  to  his  fervent 
supplications  to  the  throne  of  grace,  deeply  affected  the 
spectators,  while  the  Pope  and  cardinals  gnashed  their 
teeth  through  rage. 


SECT.  IV.]  Persecution  in  Piedmont  under  Francis  J.        275 

Such  was  the  end  of  the  Waldenses  in  Calabria,  who 
were  wholly  exterminated :  for  if  any  of  the  fugitives  return- 
ed, it  was  upon  the  express  condition  that  they  would  in 
all  things  conform  themselves  to  the  laws  of  the  church 
of  Rome.* 

About  this  time,  Francis  I.,  king  of  France,  obtained 
possession  of  the  whole  country  of  Piedmont,  by  conquest, 
and  regulated  its  affairs  by  means  of  its  parliament  at  Tu- 
rin. The  pontifical  chair  was  then  filled  by  Paul  III.,  who 
plied  the  parliament  so  sedulously  to  proceed  against  these 
pernicious  heretics,  the  Waldenses,  that  the  recent  scenes  of 
France  were  now  reacted  in  Piedmont ;  numbers  of  the 
Waldenses  being  committed  to  the  flames.  Happily  these 
things  were,  in  a  great  measure,  new  among  them.  They, 
therefore,  presented  an  address  to  the  king,  humbly  suppli- 
cating that  they  might  be  indulged  with  the  same  privi- 
leges under  his  government,  which  they  and  their  forefa- 
thers had  so  long  enjoyed  under  the  house  of  Savoy.  But 
Francis  turned  a  deaf  ear  to  their  prayer,  commanding 
them  to  be  regulated  in  the  concerns  of  religion  by  the 
laws  of  the  Roman  church,  or  they  should  be  punished  as 
heretics,  adding,  that  he  did  not  burn  the  followers  of  Lu- 
ther in  every  part  of  France,  to  permit  a  nest  of  heretics  to 
rest  secure  in  the  bosom  of  the  Alps.  They  were,  there- 
fore, commanded  by  the  parliament  to  send  away  their 
pastors  on  pain  of  death ;  and  in  their  room  to  receive 
priests  belonging  to  the  Catholic  church,  to  conduct  their 
worship  and  sing  masses  for  them.  The  Waldenses  replied, 
that  in  what  regarded  their  religious  worship,  they  could 
obey  no  commands  which  interfered  with  the  laws  of  God, 
to  whom  they  rather  chose  to  be  obedient,  in  every  thing 
that  concerned  his  service,  than  to  follow  the  fancies  and 
inclinations  of  men. f 


*  Perrin's  History  of  the  Waldenses,  b.  ii.  ch.  7. 

f  Sir  Ssimiiel  Morland's  Charches  of  Piedmont,  p.  224. 


276  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [ch.  vi. 

But  the  niultiplicity  of  important  concerns  which,  at  that 
critical  juncture,  engaged  the  king's  attention,  not  permit- 
ting him  to  prosecute  his  measures  against  the  Waldenses, 
the  parliament  relinquished  the  matter  to  the  court  of  in- 
quisition, who  committed  to  the  flames  as  many  as  they 
could  apprehend.  In  the  year  1555,  several  were  burnt, 
in  the  castle  yard  at  Turin,  and  among  others  Bartholomew 
Hector,  a  bookseller,  who,  by  his  admirable  fortitude  under 
his  sufl'e rings,  his  holy  conversation,  and  fervent  prayers  to 
God,  so  deeply  affected  the  spectators,  that  he  drew  tears 
from  their  eyes,  and  the  language  of  compassionate  sym- 
pathy from  their  lips. 

Not  long  after  this,  the  parliament  of  Turin,  resolving 
to  second,  by  every  means  in  their  power,  the  cflbrts  of  the 
inquisitors,  appointed  a  person  of  the  name  of  St.  Julian, 
president,  and  sent  him  throughout  the  valleys,  armed  with 
the  king's  authority,  and  accompanied  by  an  assessor,  to 
compel  the  Waldenses  either  to  conform  to  the  church  of 
Rome  or  to  put  them  to  death ;  promising  to  render  their 
agents  every  assistance  they  might  require,  either  to  reduce 
to  obedience,  or  exterminate  them. 

On  their  arrival  at  Perouse,  they  issued  a  proclamation 
in  the  name  of  the  king,  commanding  every  one  of  the  in- 
habitants to  attend  mass  on  pain  of  death.  From  thence 
they  proceeded  to  Pignerol,  where  they  summoned  several 
persons  to  appear  before  them,  and  drew  up  indictments, 
probably  with  the  view  of  terrifying  the  Waldenses;  but 
not  finding  these  methods  to  succeed  to  their  expectations, 
they  next  had  recourse  to  a  new  and  more  alluring  expe- 
dient. St.  Julian  had  brought  with  him  several  monks 
from  the  valley  of  Angrogne,  one  of  whom  he  caused  to 
preach  before  a  large  concourse  of  the  people.  The  zealous 
ecclesiastic  laboured  indefatigably  to  persuade  them  to 
return  to  the  church  of  Rome,  the  praises  of  which  he  ex- 
tolled to  the  skies.  The  people  heard  him  patiently  to  the 
end  of  his  harangue  ;  and  then  rising  up,  requested  that 
one  of  their  pastors,  who  happened  to  be  present,  might  be 


SECT.  IV.]      Arhitrary  proceedings  in  Piedmont.  277 

indulged  with  the  privileg^e  of  making  some  remarks  on  the 
sermon  ;  but  the  president  very  prudently  declined  the  pro- 
posal. His  refusal,  however,  occasioned  such  murmuring 
throughout  the  auditory,  that  the  president  and  his  monks 
were  petrified  with  astonishment,  and  took  the  first  oppor- 
tunity that  was  afforded  them  of  decently  retiring  and  re- 
turning to  Turin. 

On  their  arrival  they  informed  the  parliament  of  their 
proceedings,  intimating  how  difficult  it  would  be  to  subdue 
these  people  by  coercive  measures ;  and  giving  it  as  their 
opinion,  that,  even  if  attempted,  the  country  afforded  such 
facilities  of  defending  themselves,  that,  either  to  reduce 
them  to  the  obedience  of  the  church  of  Rome,  or  to  rid  tiie 
country  of  them,  must  be  an  Herculean  task,  and  pei  form- 
ed at  the  expense  of  so  much  blood,  that  to  exterminate 
them  must  be  the  work  of  a  king,  and  of  a  king  of  France 
too;  they,  therefore,  submitted  it  to  consideration,  that  it 
would  be  prudent  to  transmit  a  report  of  this  matter  to  his 
majesty,  and  leave  the  further  prosecution  of  the  Waldenses 
to  his  own  discretion.  This  advice  was  adopted,  and  a.  year 
elapsed  before  the  parliament  took  any  further  measures 
relative  to  them. 

His  majesty,  however,  at  length  reported  his  pleasure 
upon  the  message  of  the  parliament ;  and  it  was,  that  all 
his  subjects  in  Piedmont  should  be  compelled  to  attend 
mass,  on  pain  of  corporeal  punishment,  and  the  confiscation 
of  their  goods  ;  and  St.  Julian  was  again  sent  to  Angrogne 
to  enforce  obedience  :  but  the  people  were  still  as  averse  to 
compliance  as  ever  they  had  been.  They  answered,  that 
they  were  not  bound  to  obey  such  decrees  as  were  incon- 
sistent with  their  duty  to  God.  He  then  commanded 
twelve  of  the  principal  persons  among  them,  with  all  the 
pastors  and  all  the  schoolmasters  in  the  valleys,  to  surren- 
der themselves  prisoners  at  Turin,  there  to  receive  such  sen- 
tences, as  should  be  passed  upon  them.  They  returned  for 
answer,  that  such  commands  came  from  man  only,  and  not 
from  God,  and  that  as  they  could  not  appear  at  Turin  but 

Vol.   11.  2  O 


278  History  of  the  Christian  Church.         [ch.  vi, 

at  the  risk  of  their  lives,  and  of  being  troubled  on  account 
of  their  religious  profession,  they  declined  compliance. 

This  contumacious  behaviour  inflamed  the  parliament  to 
the  highest  pitch.  They  proceeded  against  them  in  the 
most  summary  manner,  causing  all  that  could  be  appre- 
hended in  Piedmont,  and  on  the  confines  of  the  valleys,  to 
be  committed  to  the  flames  at  Turin ;  and  among  others  a 
Mr.  Jeffery  Varnigle  was  burnt,  in  the  year  1557,  in  the 
castle  yard.  He  was  attended  by  an  immense  concourse 
of  spectators,  upon  whom  his  death  made  a  strong  and 
lasting  impression  ;  his  fervent  piety  and  resignation  to  the 
will  of  God  tending  greatly  to  confirm  and  establish  their 
own  minds. 

While  these  things  were  in  progress,  Francis  was  removed 
from  the  stage  of  life,  and  his  son  Henry  II.  raised  to  the 
throne.  The  Protestant  princes  of  Germany,  now  moved 
with  compassion  for  the  poor  persecuted  Waldenses,  inter- 
ceded for  them  with  Henry,  entreating  him  to  permit  them 
the  same  religious  privileges  which  their  forefathers  had 
enjoyed  from  generation  to  generation.  And  their  appli- 
cation was  not  without  success,  for  they  continued  unmo- 
lested until  peace  was  concluded  between  France  and 
Spain,  in  the  year  1559,  at  which  time  Piedmont  was  again 
restored  to  the  Duke  of  Savoy. 

No  sooner  had  the  inhabitants  of  Piedmont  become  the 
subjects  of  Philbert  Emanuel,  than  a  most  pressing  appli- 
cation was  made  to  him  by  the  monks  of  Pignerol  to  prose- 
cute the  most  sanguinary  measures  against  the  Waldenses ; 
and  the  latter,  to  counteract  it,  presented  an  humble  petition 
to  their  sovereign,  in  which  they  informed  him  they  were 
not  ignorant  of  the  many  accusations  laid  against  them, 
nor  of  the  various  calumnies  that  were  cast  upon  them,  with 
the  view  of  rendering  them  odious  to  all  the  princes  and 
monarchs  of  the  Christian  world.  They  then  make  a  bold 
avowal  of  their  principles  as  these  respected  the  Christian 
faith,  their  readiness  to  yield  obedience  to  their  civil  rulers, 
in  every  thing  that  did  not  infringe  upon  the  rights  of  con- 


SECT.  IT.]   Plea  of  the  Waldenses  for  toleration.  279 

science — their  anxious  wish  to  live  peaceably  with  their 
neighbours ;  boldly  affirming  that,  though  often  provoked 
to  it,  they  had  done  violence  to  no  man ;  and  in  this  respect, 
they  challenged  any  complaint  that  could  be  brought 
against  them.  They  appealed  to  their  pubHshed  confes- 
sions of  faith  that  they  were  not  obstinate  in  their  opinions, 
but  on  the  contrary  ready  to  receive  all  holy  and  pious  ad- 
monitions, that  were  sanctioned  by  the  word  of  God ;  and 
that  they  were  so  far  from  evading  discussion,  that,  on  the 
contrary,  they  anxiously  desired  it.  They  implored  his 
highness  to  consider  that  their  religious  profession  was  not 
a  thing  of  yesterday,  as  their  adversaries  falsely  reported  ; 
but  had  been  the  profession  of  their  fathers,  grandfathers, 
and  great-grandfathers  ;  yea,  of  their  predecessors  of  still 
more  ancient  times,  even  of  the  martyrs,  confessors,  apos- 
tles, and  prophets ;  and  they  called  upon  their  adversaries 
to  prove  the  contrary,  if  they  were  able.  Persuaded,  there- 
fore, as  they  were,  that  their  religion  was  not  a  human  in- 
vention, but  founded  upon  the  word  of  God,  which  shall 
remain  for  ever,  they  were  confident  that  no  human  force 
should  be  able  to  extinguish  it. 

They  call  to  the  mind  of  their  prince,  the  grievous  per- 
secutions that  for  many  ages  past  had  been  carried  on 
against  their  brethren,  and  which  had  been  so  far  from  de- 
stroying the  sect,  that  their  numbers  were  increasing  daily 
— an  argument,  as  they  remarked,  that  the  work  and  coun- 
sel was  not  of  men  but  of  God,  and  consequently  not  to  be 
destroyed  by  violence.  They  remind  him,  that  it  is  no  tri- 
fling thing  to  fight  against  God  ;  and  beseech  him  to  con- 
sider well  what  he  is  about  to  undertake,  before  he  embrues 
his  hands  in  innocent  blood.  "  We  shall  religiously  obey 
all  your  highness's  edicts,"  say  they, "  so  fur  as  conscience 
will  permit — but  Jesus  is  our  Saviour,  and  when  con- 
science says  NA.y,  your  highness  knows  that  it  is  our  duly 
to  obey  God  rather  than  man.  Wliile  we  frankly  acknow- 
ledge  the  right  of  Caesar,  to  demand  from   us  what  be- 


280  Hisiury  of  the  Christian  Church.  ^ch.  vi. 

longs  to  Ca'sar,  we  must  also  render  to  God  what  is  due 
to  Him." 

But  whether  this  petition  did  not  arrive  in  time,  or  that 
the  duke  actually  turned  a  deaf  ear  to  it,  it  seems  that  in 
the  3^ear  1561  the  inhabitants  of  the  valleys  were  consider- 
ably harassed  by  the  military ;  in  consequence  of  which 
they  came  to  the  resolution  of  sending  deputies  to  Turin, 
to  prevail  upon  the  dutchess,  who  was  reported  to  be  fa- 
vourably disposed  towards  their  cause,  to  intercede  for 
them.  In  this  instance  they  were  more  successful.  An 
edict  was  issued  in  favour  of  the  Waldenses,  bearing  date 
the  5th  of  June,  1561,  granting  them  the  privilege  of  hold- 
ing their  public  assemblies  in  all  the  usual  places,  free 
from  molestation ;  and  that  such  of  them  as  had  been 
injured  by  the  seizure  and  confiscation  of  their  property, 
should  have  it  restored,  or  receive  a  compensation  for  the 
same. 

The  following  account  of  this  matter,  given  by  Sleidan's 
Continuator,  appears  to  me  of  too  much  importance  to  be 
omitted  in  this  place.  "  There  was  in  Piedmont,"  says  he, 
"  a  valley  called  by  the  name  of  Perouse,  and  St.  Martin  ; 
inhabited  by  about  fifteen  thousand  souls,  whose  ancestors, 
about  four  hundred  years  since,  had,  upon  the  preaching 
of  Waldo,  Speronus,  and  Arnold,  made  a  defection  from 
the  Church  of  Rome,  and  had,  at  times,  been  severely 
treated  for  it,  by  the  French,  under  whom  the}'  had  been; 
but  by  the  last  treaty  they  were  assigned  to  the  Duke  of 
Savoy.  This  people  about  the  year  1555,  had  embraced 
the  Reformation,  and  had  suffered  it  to  be  publicly  preach- 
ed, though  it  was  forbidden  by  the  council  at  Turin,  which, 
the  year  following,  sent  one  of  its  own  members,  to  inquire 
after  the  offenders  and  to  punish  them ;  to  whom  the  in- 
habitants delivered  the  confession  of  their  faith  ;  '  Decla- 
ring that  they  professed  the  doctrine  contained  in  the  Old 
and  New  Testament,  and  comprehended  in  the  Apostle's 
Creed  ;  and  admitted  the  sacraments  instituted  by  Christ, 
and  the  ten  commandments,  &i,c.     Tliat  they  believed  the 


SECT.  IV.]  Proceedings  in  Piedmont,  A.  D.  1560.  281 

supreme  civil  magistrates  were  instituted  by  God,  and  they 
were  to  be  obeyed,  and  that  whosoever  resisted  them,  fought 
against  God.  They  said  they  had  received  this  doctrine  from 
their  ancestors,  and  that  if  they  were  in  any  error  they 
were  ready  to  receive  instruction  from  the  word  of  God, 
and  would  presently  renounce  any  heretical  or  erroneous 
doctrine  which  should  be  so  shown  to  tliem.' 

"  On  this  a  solemn  disputation  was  appointed,  concerning 
the  sacrifice  of  the  mass,  auricular  confession,  tradition, 
prayers  and  oblations  for  the  dead,  and  the  ceremonies  of 
the  church  and  her  censures  ;  all  which  they  rejected,  al- 
leging that  they  were  human  inventions,  and  contrary  to 
the  word  of  God.  This  confession  was  sent  by  the  Duke 
of  Savoy  to  the  King  of  France,  who  about  a  year  after 
returned  an  answer,  that  he  had  caused  it  to  be  examined 
by  his  learned  divines ;  who  had  all  condemned  it  as  er- 
roneous and  contrary  to  true  religion ;  and  therefore,  the 
king  commanded  them  to  reject  the  confession  and  to  sub- 
mit to  the  holy  church  of  Rome;  and  if  they  did  not  do 
so,  their  persons  and  estates  should  be  confiscated.  But 
they,  on  the  contrary,  were  resolved  to  stand  by  their  former 
confession.  They  were,  therefore,  commanded  not  to  ad- 
mit any  teacher  who  was  not  sent  by  the  Archbishop  of 
Turin,  or  the  council  there  ;  and  that  if  any  teachers  came 
among  them  from  Geneva  they  should  discover  or  appre- 
hend them,  upon  pain  of  death,  and  loss  of  all  they  had. 
For  three  years  after  this,  the  Waldenses,  were  let  alone 
and  no  way  molested;  but  this  year,  1560,  the  Duke  of 
Savo}',  much  against  his  will  and  inclination,  was  drawn  by 
the  Pope  to  make  war  upon  them.  In  the  beginning  of 
March,  Jean  dc  Carpuignan,  and  one  Mathurim  and  his 
wife,  were  apprehended  and  burnt,  and  several  of  the  neigh- 
bouring valleys  were  plundered,  and  many  of  the  inhabi- 
tants put  to  death ;  about  sixty  were  sent  to  the  galleys, 
and  some  recanted  and  professed  the  Roman  Catholic  re- 
ligion. After  this,  Thomas  JacomeJ,  a  Dominican,  was 
sent  with  one  Turbis  for  his  assistant,  who  was  a  bloody 


282  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [ch.  vi. 

man,  to  inquire  diligently  and  severely  into  all  that  were 
suspected ;  but  the  nobility  interposing,  there  was  no  great 
severity  shown.  The  monks  of  the  abbey  of  Pignarol, 
which  was  seated  in  the  entrance  of  the  valley,  on  the 
other  side,  kept  a  parcel  of  soldiers  in  pay  ;  and  entrap- 
ping as  many  of  these  poor  people  as  they  could,  as  they 
passed  to  and  fro,  they  used  them  very  cruelly ;  and  some 
others  of  the  nobility  did  the  same  thing ;  and  a  sedition 
following  upon  it,  they  fined  the  poor  inhabitants  one  thou- 
sand six  hundred  crowns.  Upon  this  a  sharp  war  ensued, 
which  ended  in  the  ruin  of  the  aggressors  of  the  church 
of  Rome. 

"  The  pastor  of  Perouse  was  taken  and  burnt  with  a  slow 
fire,  together  with   many  of  his  flock,  and  the  inhabitants 
were  despoiled  of  all  they  had,  and  forced  to  flee  to  the 
mountains.     Being   thus   enraged  with  hard  usage,  in  the 
month  of  July,  fifty  of  them   set  upon   one  hundred  and 
twenty  soldiers  belonging   to  the   abbey  of  Pignarol,  put 
them   to  flight,  and   slew  the  greatest  part  of  them  ;  and 
about  four  hundred  -more  of  their  party  coming  up,  they 
took  the  abbey  of  Pignarol,  and  delivered  all  their  people 
which  were  imprisoned  there.     In  October  following,  news 
being  brought  that  the   Duke  of  Savoy  was   sending  an 
army  to  destroy  them  ;  they  resolved,  that  it  was  not  law- 
ful to  take  arms  against  their  prince,  but  that  they  would 
take  what  they  could  carry  away,  and  betake  themselves 
to  the  mountains,  and  there  await  the  good  pleasure  of  God, 
who  never  forsakes   his  own,  and   can  turn  the  hearts  of 
princes  which  way  he  pleaseth.     There  was  not  one  man 
amongst  them  who  repined  against  this  decree.     In  aftei*- 
times   they  had  pastors  who  taught  them   otherwise,  and 
told   them  it  was  not  their  prince,  but  the  Pope  that  they 
resisted,  and  tliat  they  fought  not  for  their  religion,  but  for 
their  wives  and  children.     The  2d  of  November  the  forces 
of  the  Duke  of  Savoy  entered  their  borders,  and  the  sol- 
diers attempting  to  get  above  them,  they  betook  themselves 
to  tlieir  slings,  and  maintained  a  fight  against  them  (though 


SECT.  IV.]     Faithless  conduct  of  the  Savoyards.  283 

they  were  but  few  in  number)  the  space  of  a  whole  d&y, 
with  no  great  loss.  At  last  the  general  finding  they  were 
not  to  be  forced,  gave  them  leave  to  petition  the  Duke  of 
Savoy,  '  that  they  might  live  in  peace,  assuring  him  that 
nothing  but  utter  ruin  could  have  forced  them  to  take  arms 
against  him  :  for  which  they  humbly  implored  his  high- 
ness's  pardon,  and  begging  the  liberty  of  their  consciences, 
and  that  they  might  not  be  forced  to  submit  to  the  tradi- 
tions of  the  church  of  Rome  ;  but  might,  with  his  leave, 
enjoy  the  religion  they  had  learned  from  their  ancestors.' 

"This  petition  was  seconded  by  the  Dutchess  of  Savoy, 
who  was  a  merciful  princess,  and  had  great  power  over 
the  atiections  of  the  duke.  It  being  ever  her  judgment 
that  this  people  were  not  to  be  so  severely  used,  who  had 
not  changed  their  religion  a  few  days  ago,  but  had  been 
in  possession  of  it  from  their  ancestors  so  many  ages. 
Upon  this  they  were  to  be  received  to  mercy;  but  the 
soldiery  fell  upon  them  when  they  suspected  nothing,  and 
plundered  them  three  days  together.  The  general  seemed 
to  be  much  concerned  at  this  breach  of  faith:  yet  after 
this  they  were  fined  eight  thousand  crowns,  which  they  were 
forced  to  borrow  on  great  usury,  and  they  were  also  com- 
manded to  bring  all  their  arms  into  the  castles  which  the 
duke  had  garrisoned  in  their  country.  And  at  last  they 
were  commanded  to  eject  all  their  pastors  (which  was  sub- 
mitted to  with  the  tears  of  their  peopi' )  that  they  might 
avoid  the  fury  of  the  soldiers.  The  general  pretended  not 
to  be  satisfied  that  their  pastors  were  in  reality  gone,  and 
when  they  suffered  them  to  search  their  houses,  the  soldiers 
plundered  them  again,  and  then  burnt  their  town.  There 
was  one  town  called  Angrogne,  in  a  valley  of  the  same 
name,  where  the  general  pretended  to  show  them  more 
favour,  and  agreed  that  they  should  have  one  pastor  left 
them :  but  they  forced  him  also  to  flee  into  the  mountains 
afterwards,  and  plundered  his  house,  and  all  his  neighbours, 
and  then  enjoined  the  Sindicks  (or  chief  magistrates)  to 
bring  in  the  pastor ;  threatening  that  otherwise  they  would 


284  History  of  the  Christian  Church.        [ch.  vi. 

burn  and  destroy  the  whole  territory;  and  when  they  had 
so  done  they  withdrew. 

"In  the  mean-time  their  messengers  were  gone  with  their 
petition,  mentioned  above,  to  the  duke  at  Vercelli,  where 
they  attended  forty  days  before  they  could  get  an  audience, 
and  then  they  were  forced  to  promise  they  would  admit 
the  mass,  and  when  the  prince  had,  upon  these  terms, 
forgiven  their  taking  arms  against  him,  they  were  com- 
manded to  ask  pardon  too  of  the  Pope's  nuncio,  which  at 
last  they  did.  During  their  absence,  the  inhabitants  of 
Angrogne  had  permitted  no  sermons  but  in  private,  that 
they  might  not  exasperate  the  prince,  or  make  the  affairs 
of  their  deputies  more  difficult.  But  they  resolved  when 
these  were  returned  to  exercise  their  religion  openly,  and 
not  to  give  any  thing  to  the  maintaining  of  the  soldiers, 
whether  their  request  was  granted  or  denied. 

"In  the  beginning  of  January  the  deputies  returned,  and 
when  their  principals  understood  what  had  been  done,  they 
wrote  to  the  rest  of  the  valleys  to  give  them  an  account  of 
it;  and  desired  a  public  consultation  or  diet;  at  which  it 
was  resolved  that  they  should  all  join  in  a  league  to  defend 
their  religion,  which  they  believed  was  agreeable  to  the 
word  of  God,  professing  in  the  mean-time  to  obey  their 
prince  according  to  the  command  of  God,  and  that  they 
would,  for  the  future,  make  no  agreement  or  peace,  but 
by  common  consent,  in  which  the  freedon  of  their  religion 
should  be  saved.  Upon  this  they  became  more  confident, 
refused  the  conditions  offered  by  the  Duke  of  Savoy,  and 
the  promises  made  by  their  deputies.  And  the  next  day 
they  entered  into  the  church  of  Bobbio,  and  broke  down 
all  the  images  and  altars,  and  then  marching  to  Villare, 
where  they  intended  to  do  the  like,  they  met  the  soldiers, 
who  had  heard  what  was  done,  going  to  plunder  Bobbio, 
stopped  them,  and  with  their  slings  so  pelted  them,  that 
they  were  glad  to  shift  for  their  lives,  and  left  these  re- 
formers to  do  the  same  thing  at  Villare.  The  captain  of 
Turin  attempting  to  quell  this  outrage  was  beaten,  and  the 


SECT.  IV.]   Confused  state  of  Piedmont,  Ji.  D.  1561.       265 

duke's  officers  were  glad  to  seek  to  their  pastors  for  a 
passport.  After  this  they  beat  the  captain  of  Turin  in  a 
second  fiirht.  By  this  time  the  wliole  army  drew  into  the 
field,  and  tlie  inhabitants  of  these  valleys  not  being  able  to 
resist  them,  the  soldiers  burnt  all  their  towns  and  houses, 
and  destroyed  all  the  people  they  took.  In  these  broils 
Monteil,  one  of  the  Duke  of  Savoy's  chief  officers,  was 
slain  by  a  lad  of  eighteen  years  of  age;  and  Truchet, 
another  of  them,  by  a  dwarf.  The  Duke  of  Savoy  had 
sent  seven  thousand  soldiers  to  destroy  this  handful  of  men; 
and  yet  such  was  their  desperation,  and  the  advantages  of 
their  country,  that  they  beat  his  soldiers  wheresoever  they 
met  them.  And  in  all  these  fights  their  eneniies  observed 
that  they  had  slain  only  fourteen  of  the  inhabitants,  and 
thence  concluded  that  God  fought  for  them.  So  the  Sa- 
voyards began  to  treat  for  a  peace,  which  at  last  was  con- 
cluded to  the  advantage  of  these  poor  despicable  people. 
The  duke  remitted  the  eight  thousand  crowns  they  were  to 
pay  by  the  former  treaty,  and  suffered  them  to  enjo}'  their 
religious  liberty:  so  that  he  got  nothing  by  this  war  but 
loss  and  shame,  the  ruin  of  his  people  on  both  sides,  and 
the  desolation  of  his  country."* 

This  calm,  however,  only  lasted  about  four  years;  for, 
in  1565,  at  the  importunate  request  of  the  Catholic  party, 
an  edict  was  issued,  enjoining  every  subject  throughout  the 
doninions  of  the  Duke  of  Savoy,  not  conforming  to  the 
church  of  Rome,  to  appear  before  the  magistrates  of  their 
several  districts,  within  ten  days  after  its  publication,  and 
there  either  declare  their  readiness  to  go  to  mass,  or  quit 
the  country  in  two  months.  The  magistrates  were,  at  the 
same  time,  directed  to  take  particular  cognizance  of  such 
as  refused  compliance,  and  to  transmit  information  thereof 
to  his  highness. 

The  protestant  princes  of  Germany,  having  received  in- 
formation of  this  tremendous  blow  which  now  threatened 

*  Sleidan's  History  of  the  Reformation,  CoDtiouation,  p.  52 — 54 
Vol.  II.  2  P 


266  History  of  the.  Christian  Church.  [cH.  vi, 

the  Waldenses,  very  humanely  interposed  with  the  duke, 
for  the  purpose  of  warding  it  ofl'.  The  Elector  Palatine 
of  the  Rhine,  in  particular,  addressed  a  letter  to  him, 
which  he  transmitted  by  the  hands  of  one  of  his  counsel- 
lors. I  regret  that  its  length,  (for  it  occupies  seven  pages 
in  folio)  renders  its  entire  insertion  here  impracticable;  but 
some  judgment  may  be  formed  of  the  noble  sentiments  that 
it  breathes  throughout  from  the  following  extracts : 

"  I  plainly  see,"  sa^'s  the  Elector  Palatine,  "  whi- 
ther the  designs  of  your  highness's  counsels  tend.       It  is 
to  drag  these  poor  people  to  prison,  and  there,  by  means 
of  torment,  to  constrain  them  to  confess  some  treason,  that 
so  a  pretext  may  be  afforded  for  destroying  all  the  church- 
es of  the  valleys,  as  seditious,  and  to  condemn  them  as  dis- 
turbers of  the  public  peace.     But  let  your  highness  recol- 
lect, that  there  is  a  God  in  heaven,  who  not  only  beholds 
the  actions  of  men,  but  who  also  tries  their  hearts  and  reins, 
and  to  whom   all  things  are  naked  and  open.     Let  your 
highness  beware  of  wilfully  fighting  against  God,  and  of 
persecuting  Christ  in   his  members ;    for  though  he  may 
bear  it  for  awhile,  to  try  the  patience  of  his  saints,  he  will, 
nevertheless,   in  the   end,   chastise   the   persecutors  of  his 
churches  and  people  with  horrible  punishments.     Let  not 
your  highness  suffer  yourself  to  be  abused  by  the  persua- 
sions of  the  Papists,  who  may  possibly  promise  j^ou  the  king- 
dom of  heaven,  and  eternal  Hfe,  as  a  reward,  in  case  3'ou  ba- 
nish, imprison,  and  exterminate  your  subjects.      But  the  in- 
fliction of  cruelties,  and  inhuman  actions,  are  not  the  high- 
way to  the  kingdom  of  heaven — there  must  be  some  other 
found  out.     Your  highness  may  see  what  success  has  attend- 
ed the  last  forty  years  of  persecution.    What  advantage  have 
those,  who  called  themselves  Catholics,  derived  from  all 
the  fires,  swords,  gibbets,  prisons,  tortures,  and  banishments, 
which  they  have  exercised  in  Germany,  England,  France, 
and  Scotland  .''     No  ;  the  history  of  both  the  Jews,  and  the 
primitive  Christians,  abundantly  shows  that  in  the  concerns 
of  religion  the  power,  authority,  or  severity  of  men  avail 


SECT.  IV.]     Interference  of  the  Elector  Palatine.  287 

nothing.  Do  we  not  find  that  tliose  who  have  persecuted, 
banished,  or  delivered  up  unto  death,  the  Christians,  have 
been  so  far  I'rom  gaining  any  thing  thereby,  that,  on  tlie 
contrary  ihey  have  increased  their  number,  insomucli  that 
it  has  become  a  proverb — '  The  ashes  of  the  martyrs  are 
the  seed  of  tlie  Christian  church.'  In  this  respect  the 
church  resembles  the  palm  tree,  which,  the  more  it  is  weigh- 
ed down,  the  loftier  it  rises. — Be  assured,  that  true  reli- 
gion is  nothing  else  than  a  firm  and  settled  persuasion  of 
the  existence  of  God,  and  of  his  will,  as  revealed  in  his 
word,  imprinted  on  the  mind  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  which 
having  once  taken  root,  cannot  easily  be  eradicated  by 
tortures  and  torments — for  those  who  are  the  subjects  of 
it,  will  sooner  endure  the  worst  that  can  befal  them,  than 
embrace  any  thing  which  appears  to  them  contrary  to  reli- 
gion and  godliness. 

*  "  By  the  grace  of  God,  evangelical  truth  now  shines  in 
such  splendour,  that  the  errors  and  deceits  of  the  Bishop 
of  Rome  and  all  his  clergy,  are  sufficiently  known  in  a 
manner,  by  all  men ;  nor  must  the  Pope  think,  hence- 
forward, to  abuse  the  world,  as  he  has  done  in  former 
times.  I,  therefore,  beseech  your  highness,  whom  I  under- 
stand to  be  of  a  sweet  and  gentle  disposition,  that  you 
would  lay  these  things  to  heart,  and  not  further  molest 
these  poor  people  for  the  sake  of  their  religion,  nor  refuse 
them  the  free  exercise  of  it,  but  rather  allow  them  the  liber- 
ty of  assembling  in  public  for  the  worship  and  service  of 
God ;  in  doing  which  you  will  readily  discover  the  false- 
hood of  the  charges  brought  against  them  by  their  adver- 
saries, and  have  a  proof  of  their  loyalty  and  obedience. 
Your  highness  is  not  ignorant  what  evils  were  brought 
upon  France  by  their  violence,  in  banishing  and  persecu- 
ting [the  Christians  there,]  what  a  flame  was  raised,  which 
in  a  manner  consumed  the  whole  kingdom,  and  what  ruin 
ensued,  all  ivhich  has  been  appeased  by  one  single  edict, 
granting  liberty  of  conscience  ;  the  result  of  which  is,  that 
the  most  entire  peace  and  tranquillity  reign  among  them, 


288  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [ch.  vi^ 

though  they  profess  diflerent  forms  of  religion.  And,  in- 
deed,  the  plain  truth  is,  that,  if  your  highness,  out  of  com- 
plaisance to  the  bishop  of  Rome,  the  cardhials,  prelates, 
and  others  who  are  interested  in  the  Roman  religion,  be 
resolved  still  to  continue  to  persecute  these  poor  people, 
you  will  unquestionably  experience  the  same  evils  that  have 
come  upon  other  kingdoms.  Nothing  that  is  violent  is  of 
long  duration  ;  and  we  must  not  always  follow  the  wolf 
into  the  wood.  Poverty  and  hunger  are  no  inconsiderable 
torments,  nor  is  it  an  easy  thing  to  lead  so  long  and  mise- 
rable a  life  in  exile,  when  deprived  of  one's  goods  and  es- 
tates. It  is  the  height  of  injustice  and  misery  to  be  com- 
pelled to  submit  to  the  tyrannical  yoke  of  the  Bishop  of 
Rome,  and  to  be  prohibited  worshipping  God  according  to 
his  word.  And  it  is  wholly  intolerable  for  good  and  faith- 
ful subjects  to  be  accused  as  rebels  or  seditious  persons. 

"I  learn,  not  without  much  grief,  that  scarcely  any  thing 
has  yet  been  done  in  regard  to  the  things  which  your  high- 
ness promised  my  Junius  by  word  of  mouth,*  and  that 
those  poor  wretches  who  are  kept  in  the  galleys  on  account 
of  their  religion,  whose  names  he  delivered  in  to  your  high- 
ness, are  yet  detained  ;  from  which  I  plainly  perceive  that 
these  are  the  doings  of  your  highness's  counsellors,  who 
are  carried  away  with  deadly  hatred  against  our  religion, 
of  which  I  have  proof,  not  merely  by  hearsay,  but  in  the 
actual  case  of  two  who  have  been  lately  banished.  But 
let  me  tell  you,  in  a  word,  that  this  severity  is  neither  well- 
pleasing  to  God  nor  man,  nor  is  it  the  way  to  bring  men  to  the 
true  knowledge  of  God,  which  must  be  done  by  persuasion 
and  an  appeal  to  the  scriptures — not  by  persecution.  Your 
highness  may  probably  tell  me,  that  our  religion  has  been 
long  condemned — but  1  ask,  by  whom,  and   how  f     By 

*  For  understanding  this,  the  reader  must  notice,  that  the  elector 
had  before  this  time,  by  means  of  one  of  his  ministers,  whose  name  was 
Junius,  been  interceding  with  the  duke,  in  behalf  of  some  of  the  Wal- 
denses,  and  that  the  latter  had  promised  to  redress  the  grievance, 
which,  however,  the  Catholic  clergy  and  the  duke's  own  ministers  had 
successfully  manoeuvied  to  prevent. 


SECt,  IV.]         Letter  of  the  Elector  Palatine.  289 

him  who  has  violated  and  corrupted  all  rights,  human  and 
divine,  making  himself  both  party  and  judge,  and  who  has 
lately,  at  the  Council  of  Trent,  confirmed  all  his  idolatries, 
and  all  the  superstitions  and  abuses  that  have  been  introdu- 
ced into  the  church.  Let  your  highness  carefully  examine 
the  Holy  Scriptures,  and  3'ou  will  find  this  to  be  the  case. 
Never  suffer  yourself  to  be  deluded  by  those  deceivers,  who 
maintain  their  idolatries  arid  superstitions  merely  to  serve 
their  own  bellies,  and  that  they  may  lead  the  lives  of  epi- 
cures. Let  your  highness  well  consider,  that  you  must 
one  day  appear  before  the  tribunal  of  Christ,  to  give  an  ac- 
count of  the  souls  of  your  subjects,  and  where  it  will  avail 
you  nothing  to  say,  'I  thought  so,'  or,  'I  esteemed  it  to 
be  so.'  God  has  revealed  his  will  in  his  word,  and  it  is 
his  pleasure  that  we  should  follow  the  same  without  turn- 
ing either  to  the  right  hand  or  to  the  left.  The  word  of 
God  is  also  clear  and  plain  ;  let  your  highness  only  hear 
and  embrace  it,  and  you  will  easily  find  out  the  truth.  I 
say  all  this,  as  one  who  wishes  well  to  your  highness's  soul, 
as  much  so  indeed  as  I  do  to  that  of  my  own,  and  I  pray 
the  Lord  incessantly,  that  it  may  please  him  to  enlighten 
your  understanding,  and  call  you  home  to  his  true  light, 
that  you  may  discern  truth  from  falsehood,  and  that  thus 
having  a  knowledge  of  the  horrible  abuses  of  the  church 
of  Rome,  you  may  serve  God  in  sincerity  and  truth. 

"I  therefore  beseech  your  highness  to  give  us  a  pledge 
of  that  esteem  which  you  have  for  us,  by  dehvering  those 
poor  people  which  are  now  in  the  galleys,  and  recalling 
those  that  have  been  recently  banished  by  the  senate  of 
Savoy,  as  you  promised  my  Junius  and  myself,  by  your 
letters.  Have  compassion  upon  so  many  wandering  exiles, 
deprived  of  all  their  property  and  effects.  Call  them  home, 
and  restore  them  to  their  houses  and  habitations:  and 
grant  both  to  them,  and  to  the  other  inhabitants  of  your 
highness's  country,  the  public  exercise  of  their  religious 
worship,  which  they  esteem  more  necessary  than  their  daily 
food.     Absolve  such  of  these  poor  people  of  the  valleys  as 


290  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [ce.  vi, 

have  been  falsely  accused,  that  so  they  may  all  live  in 
peace  and  tranquillity  under  your  highness's  government. 
Make  such  articles  of  peace  with  them  as  may  be  preserved 
inviolate — support  them  in  the  quiet  exercise  of  that  reli- 
gion which  you  have  permitted  them,  and  defend  them  in 
the  same,  bridling  and  restraining  the  bitter  hatred  which 
their  governor  Castrocaro  exercises  towards  them;  and 
warn  him  to  molest  them  no  more  for  the  future,  as  he  has 
hitherto  done;  enjoin  upon  him  that  he  refrain  from  falsely 
imputing  to  them  crimes  and  accusations,  by  means  of 
which  he  thinks  to  varnish  over  his  tyranny;  for  such 
things  are  altogether  unsuitable  to  the  office  of  a  magis- 
trate and  a  governor,  who  ought  to  be  a  father  to  those 
that  are  committed  to  his  charge.  Do  not  render  yourself 
an  instrument  to  the  Pope  and  his  creatures,  of  gratifying 
their  insatiable  desires  to  spill  the  blood  of  Christians. 
Countenance  not  their  cruelty  and  inhumanity  against  those 
who  are  in  no  wise  perverse,  but  real  Christians,  and  who 
have  nothing  more  at  heart  than  to  serve  God  purely  and 
uprightly  under  your  highness's  government,  to  whom  they 
are  ready  to  yield  all  that  obedience  and  fidelity  which  is 
your  due,  and  to  lay  themselves  out  (their  property,  their 
persons,  and  their  lives,  if  necessity  calls  for  them)  for 
your  service.  The  great  and  all-powerful  God  guide  and 
govern  your  highness  by  his  Holy  Spirit,  and  preserve  and 
defend  you  long  in  health  and  safety."* 

This  letter,  which  breathes,  throughout,  the  spirit  of 
genuine  Christianity,  will  be  found,  by  those  who  bestow 
proper  attention  upon  it,  to  throw  much  light  upon  the 
state  of  the  Waldenses  in  Piedmont,  at  the  middle  of  the 
sixteenth  century.  For  while  it  gives  us  the  most  favour- 
able view  of  their  peaceable,  prudent,  and  exemplary  con- 
duct, it  unmasks  the  perfidious  and  cruel  proceedings  of 
the  Catholic  party  towards  them,  and  the  distresses  and 
afflictions  with  which   they  were  perpetually  harassed,  on 

*  Morland's  Churches  of  Piedmont,  p.  243—249. 


SECT.  IV.]    Massacre  on  St.  Bartholomtiv* s  Day.  291 

account  of  their  profession.  It  appears  to  have  had  the  hap- 
piest effects  upon  the  duke;  and,  supported  as  it  was,  by 
the  personal  application  of  the  dutchess,  who  is  said  to 
have  been  "a  pious  and  virtuous  princess,"  it  bridled  the 
fury  of  the  governor  Castrocaro,  and  averted  the  dreadful 
storm  which  hung  over  them.  They  appear  to  have  en- 
joyed peace  until  the  year  1571,  at  which  time  the  rage 
of  this  inhuman  governor  again  burst  forth.  The  duke, 
at  that  instant,  had  been  drawn  in  to  join  several  of  the 
princes  of  Europe,  in  a  league  offensive  against  the  Pro- 
testants; which  he  had  no  sooner  done,  than  he  began  to 
molest  liis  Protestant  subjects  in  the  valleys.  He  first  of 
all  forbade  them  to  hold  any  correspondence  with  the 
Waldenses  of  Dauphiny,  on  pain  of  death.  And  next  they 
were  forbidden  to  assemble  in  any  synod  or  council,  unless 
it  were  in  the  presence  of  the  intolerant  Castrocaro.  These 
things  sufficiently  indicated  the  e:athering  of  another  storm ; 
but  the  dutchess  again  humanely  interposed,  and  with 
effect;  for  she  procured  the  continuimce  of  their  privileges; 
and,  indeed,  during  her  life,  she  remained  as  it  were,  a 
sanctuary,  and  place  of  refuge,  for  the  members  of  the 
churches  of  Piedmont,  whenever  they  found  themselves 
assailed  by  their  adversaries. 

In  the  following  year,  1572,  the  dreadful  massacre  of 
the  Hugonots,  on  St.  Bartholomew's  day,  took  place  at 
Paris,  and  several  of  the  other  cities  of  France.  No 
sooner  had  the  news  of  this  reached  Castrocaro,  than  he 
prepared  himself  for  similar  exploits  in  Piedmont;  and  so 
terrific  was  the  attitude  in  which  he  placed  himself,  that  the 
Waldensian  brethren  thought  it  necessary  to  retire,  with 
their  wives,  children,  and  moveable  effects,  to  the  tops  of 
the  mountains,  and  other  places  of  real  or  fancied  security. 
But  God  who  has  the  hearts  of  all  men  in  his  hands,  and 
who,  at  his  pleasure,  restrains  the  wrath  of  man,  on  this 
occasion  disposed  the  heart  of  the  duke  to  befriend  them. 
The  massacres  that  had  taken  place  in  France  filled  him 


292  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [cH.  vi. 

with  disgust  and  horror;  and  so  far  was  he  from  allowing 
the  governor  to  act  a  similar  part  towards  his  subjects,  that 
he  caused  a  proclamation  to  be  issued,  commanding  those 
who  had  left  their  habitations  to  return  to  their  own  houses, 
promising  that  they  should  sustain  neither  danger  nor  in- 
jury thereby ;  and  they  found  him  true  to  his  word,  for, 
from  that  time  to  the  death  of  the  dutchess,  which  took 
place  on  the  19th  of  October,  1574,  they  suffered  but  little 
inconvenience. 

After  the  death  of  this  amiable  lady,  however,  the  Popish 
party  came  forth,  like  lions  out  of  their  dens,  and  sought, 
by  all  possible  means,  to  destroy  the  Waldenses;  but  the 
kind  providence  of  God  raised  them  up  friends,  from  time 
to  time,  who  interceded  on  their  behalf  with  the  duke, 
whose  heart  seems  to  have  been  gradually  and  increasingly 
inclined  towards  them;  for  he  continued  to  treat  them  with 
much  gentleness  and  moderation,  from  that  time  until  the 
period  of  his  own  death,  which  happened  on  the  30th  of 
August,  1580. 

The  late  duke  was  succeeded  in  the  government  of  the 
country  by  his  son  Charles  Emanuel,  upon  whose  accession 
to  the  throne  a  trifling  contest  about  territory  arose  be- 
tween him  and  a  French  prince,  which  was  near  involving 
the  Waldenses  in  a  dilemma.  The  young  duke  had  seized 
upon  the  marquisate  of  Saluces,  on  which  Monsieur  de 
I'Esdiguieres,  by  way  of  retaliation,  marched  his  army,  and 
seized  the  valleys  of  Piedmont.  When  the  fracas  was  over, 
a  rumour  was  spread  abroad  that  the  Waldenses  had  taken 
the  oath  of  fidelity  to  the  King  of  France,  and  that  the 
duke,  displeased  with  that  part  of  their  conduct,  had  formed 
the  resolution  of  extirpating  all  the  Protestant  churches  in 
his  dominions.  There  does  appear  to  have  been  some 
truth  in  the  latter  part  of  this  representation,  for  some 
members  of  the  duke's  council  actually  proposed  the  thing, 
but  it  was  overruled  by  the  wiser  and  greater  part  of  the 
members,  and  it  met  with  a  stern  repulse  from  the  duke 


SECT.  IV.]    The  Duke  of  Savoy  protects  the  Waldenses.   293 

himself.  The  Waldenses,  however,  thought  it  expedient 
to  appoint  their  deputies  to  wait  upon  him,  which  they  did 
at  Viilaro,  assuring  his  liiglnioss  of  their  loyalty  and  fidelity 
to  his  government,  and  supplicating  a  continuance  of  his 
favour  and  protection.  His  answer,  which  was  made  in 
the  presence  of  a  great  number  of  his  lords  and  courtiers, 
was  calculated  to  revive  tlieir  drooping  spirits.  "Only  be 
faithful  to  me,"  said  the  d'uke,  "and  I  shall  not  fail  to  be 
a  good  prince,  nay,  a  father  to  you.  And  as  to  your 
liberty  of  conscience  and  the  free  exercise  of  your  religion, 
I  shall  be  so  far  from  introducing  any  innovations  into 
those  liberties  which  you  have  enjoyed  to  the  present  time, 
that  if  any  offer  to  molest  you,  have  your  recourse  to  myself 
and  I  shall  effectually  relieve  and  protect  you.'''' 

This  certainly  was  a  very  remarkable  declaration,  espe- 
cially w  hen  we  consider  that  it  came  from  one  who  pro- 
fessed himself  a  member  of  the  church  of  Rome.  But  it 
WdiS  spoken  in  the  presence  of  many  persons  of  high  con- 
sideration, and  in  the  most  condescending  manner;  and  it 
proved  eminently  conducive  to  the  interests  of  the  Wal- 
denses. It  countervailed  the  threats  of  their  implacable 
adversaries,  and  kept  them  in  check;  f^nd  such,  with  occa- 
sional mierruptions  indeed,  from  the  Catholic  party,  some- 
times by  secret  stratagems,  and  at  others  by  open  force, 
continued  their  condition  until  the  end  of  the  century. 
About  that  time,  the  scene  greatly  changed,  and  the  years 
1601  and  1602  were  prolific  of  mischief  to  the  churches, 
both  in  the  valley  of  Lucerne  and  the  marquisate  of  Saluces, 
of  which  some  mention  will  be  made  in  the  next  section; 
I  shall  close  the  present  with  a  short  article  of  biography 
which  may  serve  as  an  introduction  to  the  history  of  the 
Waldenses  during  the  seventeenth  century. 

In  the  year  1601,  Bartholomew  Copin,  a  Waldensian  of 
the  valley  of  Lucerne,  had  occasion  to  attend  a  public  fair 
at  Ast,  a  city  in  Piedmont,  to  which  he  had  brought  for 
sale  some  articles  of  merchandise.  Sitting  at  table  one 
evening  in  company  with  several  other  merchants,  one  of 

Vol.  II.  2Q 


294  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [ch.  vi. 

them  started  a  discourse  upon  the  subject  of  the  diversity 
of  religious  professions,  and  took  occasion  to  speak  re- 
proachfully of  the  Waldenses  of  Angrogne  and  the  neigh- 
bouring valleys.  Copin  undertook  their  defence ;  con- 
ceiving that  if  he  permitted  such  calumnies  to  pass  uncon- 
tradicted, he  should  appear  to  be  acquiescing  in  their  jus- 
tice, and  of  course  should  partake  in  the  guilt  that  attach- 
ed to  them.  "  And  what,"  said  the  stranger  to  Copin, 
"  are  you  one  of  the  Waldenses  .'^"  "  Yes,"  said  he,  "  I 
am."  "  And  what,  do  you  not  believe  the  real  presence 
of  God  in  the  host .?"  "  No,"  said  Copin.  "  See,"  replied 
the  other,  "  what  a  false  religion  yours  is."  "Of  the  truth 
of  my  religion,"  said  Copin,  "  1  have  no  more  doubt,  than 
I  have  of  the  existence  of  God  himself,  or  that  I  myself 
shall  die."  On  the  following  day,  Copin  was  summoned 
to  appear  before  the  Bishop  of  Ast,  who  told  him  that  he 
had  been  informed  of  certain  scandalous  opinions  and  dis- 
courses which  he  had  held  the  preceding  evening  at  his 
lodgings;  and  that  unless  he  confessed  his  fault,  and  asked 
pardon,  he  should  certainly  have  him  punished.  Copin 
acknowledged  that  he  had  been  stimulated  to  say  what  he 
did  ;  but  that,  nevertheless,  he  had  said  nothing  that  was 
untrue,  or  which  he  would  not  maintain  at  the  peril  of  his 
life.  He  owned  that  he  had  some  property  in  the  world, 
and  a  wife  and  children,  but  that  his  afl'ections  were  not  so 
rivetted  to  those  objects,  as  to  prefer  them  to  the  testimony 
of  a  good  conscience.  And  as  to  his  life  and  conversa- 
tion, if  the  bishop  thought  proper  to  inquire  of  the  mer- 
chants of  Ast,  all  of  whom  knew  him,  he  might  be  fully 
satisfied  of  his  uprightness  and  integrity. 

This,  however,  did  not  satisfy  his  lordship,  who  instantly 
sent  him  to  prison;  and  on  the  following  day,  the  bishop's 
secretary  paid  Copin  a  visit,  when  he  expressed  great  re- 
gard for  him,  but  thought  it  necessary  to  apprise  him  that, 
unless  he  acknowledged  his  fault,  he  was  in  danger  of  losing 
his  life.  Copin  rephed,  that  his  life  was  in  the  hands  of 
God — that  he  had  no  wish  to  preserve  it  to  the  prejudice 


SECT.  IV.]     Persecution  of  Bartholomew  Copin.  295 

of  his  glory — and  that  as  'there  were  but  two  or  three  steps 
between  him  and  heaven,  he  trusted  he  would  support  him 
by  his  grace,  and  not  leave  him  to  turn  aside.  He  was 
next  brougiit  before  the  inquisitor,  wlio  examined  him  in 
the  presence  of  the  bishop  ;  but  Copin  always  repulsed 
them  with  the  word  of  God,  telling  them  that  were  he  to 
be  ashamed  of  and  deny  Christ,  he  would  be  ashamed  of 
and  deny  him  before  his  heavenly  Father.  The  inquisitor, 
finding  he  was  not  to  be  moved  by  either  his  fair  speeches 
or  terrific  frowns,  then  thus  addressed  him,  "  Out  upon 
thee,  tiiou  cursed  Lutheran  ;  thou  shalt  go  to  the  devils  in 
hell,  and  when  tormented  by  those  foul  spirits,  thou  wilt 
call  to  mind  the  holy  instructions  we  have  given  thee,  to 
bring  thee  to  salvation — but  thou  choosest  rather  to  go  to 
hell,  than  reconcile  thyself  to  thy  holy  mother,  the  church." 
Copin  only  answered,  that  he  had  long  been  reconciled  to 
the  holy  church. 

Copin,  foreseeing  that  his  death  was  resolved  on,  and 
that  his  time  here  would  probably  be  short,  was  one  day 
greatly  surprised  by  a  visit  from  his  wife  and  son,  who 
seem  to  have  been  enticed  to  the  prison  by  the  Catholic 
party  for  sinister  purposes,  and  who  were  permitted  to  sup 
with  him  in  the  prison.  He  improved  the  time,  however, 
in  exhorting  his  wife  to  submission  to  the  will  of  God ;  tell- 
hig  her  she  would  soon  be  deprived  of  her  husband,  and 
the  child  of  its  father ;  he  reminded  her  that  it  was  not  his 
duty  to  love  wife  or  children  more  than  Christ — that  she 
ought  to  esteem  him  happy  in  that  it  pleased  God  to  confer 
upon  him  the  honour  of  bearing  witness  to  his  truth  at  the 
expense  of  his  life ;  and  that  he  hoped  God  would  grant 
him  grace  to  sufler  any  torments  for  his  sake.  It  is  un- 
necessary to  dwell  upon  the  parting  scene,  which  the  rea- 
der's own  reflections  will  enable  him  to  realize.  The  af- 
fecting lamentations  of  his  wife  and  child  were  suflicient  to 
melt  the  most  obdurate  heart  into  pity  and  compassion  ; 
but  having  received  his  last  benediction,  they  were  dismiss- 


296  History  of  the  Ckristian  Church.  [ch.  vi- 

ed the  prison,  and  Copin  was  locked  up  as  before.     On  the 
next  day  he  wrote  the  following  letter. 

"  To  my  well-beloved  consort,  Susanna  Copin. 

"  My  dearest  Consort ! 

*'  I  derived  much  consolation  from  your  late  visit — and 
mdeed  so  much  the  more,  b}'  how  much  the  less  it  was  ex- 
pected. I  believe,  also,  it  was  no  little  satisfaction  to  your- 
self, to  have  the  opportunity  of  supping  with  me,  as  it  fell 
out  on  Saturday  the  15th  of  September,  1601.  I  know 
not  how  it  came  about  that  we  were  permitted  so  to  do  ; 
but  all  things  are  in  the  hands  of  God,  and  be  the  cause 
what  it  may,  1  do  not  think  we  shall  eat  together  any  more. 
And,  therefore,  beseech  God  to  be  your  comforter,  and  put 
3'Our  trust  in  him,  who  hath  promised  never  to  forsake  those 
that  depend  upon  him.  You  want  not  prudence,  and  there- 
fore so  manage  and  govern  your  house,  that  you  may  have 
Samuel  and  Martha,  in  proper  subjection  to  you,  and  I 
command  them,  by  the  authority  that  God  hath  given  me, 
that  they  honour  and  obey  you,  and  in  so  doing  they  will 
be  blessed  of  God.  As  to  the  rest,  be  neither  troubled  nor 
concerned  about  me  ;  for  if  divine  providence  hath  decreed 
to  put  a  period  to  my  life,  and  if  it  please  him  to  demand 
a  restitution  of  that  soul  which  he  hath  a  long  time  lent 
me,  my  confidence  is  in  him,  that  out  of  his  immense  mercy 
and  divine  goodness,  he  will  receive  it  hito  heaven,  for  the 
sake  of  his  Son  Christ  Jesus,  who,  I  believe,  hath  made 
expiation  for  our  sins  by  his  sufi'erings  and  death.  Be 
constant  in  prayer  to  God,  and  serve  him  fully — for  thus 
you  will  be  happy.  You  need  not  send  me  any  thing  for 
three  weeks  to  come ;  but  at  the  expiration  of  that  time, 
you  may,  if  you  please,  send  me  some  money,  to  pay  the 
gaoler  and  my  own  support,  if  I  live  so  long.  Recollect 
what  I  have  often  told  you,  that  God  added  fifteen  years  to 
the  life  of  king  Hezekiah,  but  that  he  had  prolonged  my 


SECT.  T.]    Description  of  the  marquisate  of  Saluces.       297 

term  much  more,  for  you  have  seen  me,  as  it  were,  dead  a 
long  time  ago,  and  yet  1  still  survive  ;  and  I  hope  and  trust 
that  he  will  preserve  my  life  until  my  death  be  more  for  his 
glory  and  my  own  happiness,  through  his  goodness  and 
mercy  towards  me. 

"  From  the  prison  of  Ast,  Sept.  \6th,  1601." 

Poor  Copin  was  soon  afterwards  found  dead  in  his  cell, 
not  without  symptoms  of  having  been  strangled  !  After  his 
death  he  w  as  condemned  to  be  burnt ;  and  the  bod}-  having 
been  brought  out  of  prison,  sentence  was  read  over  it,  and 
it  was  cast  into  the  lire.* 


sscTioir  V. 

The  history  of  the  Waldenses  during  the  former  part  of  the 
seventeenth  century. 

A.  D.  1600—1665. 

On  the  southern  side  of  the  valleys  of  Piedmont,  lies  a 
considerable  tract  of  extremely  fertile  country,  including 
extensive  valleys  and  plain  lands,  with  several  large  cities, 
all  passing  under  the  general  term  of  the  marquisate  of 
SAUTCES.f  Its  most  northern  valley  is  that  of  Po,  so 
named  from  the  river  Po  taking  its  rise  there;  and  it  is 
separated  only  by  a  single  mountain  on  the  north  side  from 
the  valley  of  Lucerne,  in  Piedmont. 

Previous  to  the  year  1588,  the  marquisate  of  Saluces  was 
subject  to  the  jurisdiction  of  the  kings  of  France;  but  at 
that  period  an  exchange  of  territory  was  made  between  the 
French  monarch  and  the  Duke  of  Savoy — in  consequence 

*  Perrin's  History,  b.  ii.  ch.  iv. 

t  This  name  is,  in  our  old  historians,  frequently  spelt  "  Saluzxes.^^ 


298  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [ch.  vi. 

of  which  the  latter  gave  up  la  Bresse  to  France,  and  the 
marqnisate  of  Saluces  was  annexed  to  the  dominions  of 
the  Duke  of  Savoy. 

The  contiguity  of  Saluces  to  the  valleys  of  Piedmont, 
together  with  its  great  similarity  in  regard  to  territorial 
surface,  had  entitled  it,  for  several  centuries,  to  participate 
of  the  light  of  divine  truth,  which  shone  in  the  neighbouring 
valleys;  and  in  the  beginning  of  the  seventeenth  century 
there  were  eight  flourishing  churches  in  the  marquisate,  of 
which  Pravillelm,  Biolets,  Bietone,  and  Dronier  were  the* 
chief;  but  they  had  all  maintained  the  purity  of  the  Christian 
profession  for  ages,  living  in  great  harmony,  and  holding 
fellowship  with  the  neighbouring  churches  of  the  same 
faith  and  order.  Their  external  peace  had,  indeed,  been 
frequently  invaded  by  the  kings  of  France,  and  their  con- 
stancy and  patience  under  sufferings  put  severely  to  the 
test — but  if  the  French  monarchs  had  chastised  them  with 
whips,  it  was  reserved  for  their  new  sovereign,  Charles 
Emanuel,  to  do  it  with  scorpions.* 

In  the  year  1597,  the  Duke  of  Savoy  made  his  pleasure 
known  to  his  new  subjects,  by  a  letter  issued  from  Turin, 
dated  27  th  of  March  of  that  year,  of  which  the  following 
is  a  copy. 

Well-beloved  Friends,  &/-c. 

It  being  our  desire  that  all  our  subjects  in  the  marquisate 
of  Saluces  should  live  under  obedience  to  our  mother,  the 
Catholic  Apostolic  Roman  Church — and  knowing  how 
much  our  exhortations  have  prevailed  upon  others,  hoping 
also  that  tiiey  will  have  the  same  efi'ect  upon  you,  and  that 
you  are  willing  to  adhere  to  the  truth :  we  have  thought  it 
proper,  upon  these  grounds,  to  address  3  ou  in  this  letter,  to 
the  end  that,  laying  aside  that  heretical  obstinacy,  you  may 
embrace  the  true   religion,  both  out  of  respect  to  God's 

*  Sir  Samuel  Morland's  History  of  the  Churches  of  Piedmont,  p. 
258.  Perrin's  Hist,  des  Vaudois,  b.  ii.  ch.  5.  Boyer's  History  of  the 
Waldenses,  ch.  ix. 


SECT,  v.]  Waldenses  plead  for  toleration.  299 

glory  and  love  to  your  ownselves.  In  which  religion  we, 
for  our  parts,  are  resolved  to  live  and  die;  which  conduct 
of  yours,  on  account  of  so  good  an  example,  will  undoubt- 
edly lead  you  to  eternal  life.  Only  dispose  yourselves  to  do 
this,  and  we  shall  preserve  the  remembrance  of  it  for  your 
benefit,  as  the  Lord  de  la  Monte  will  more  particularly 
certify  you  on  our  part,  to  whom  we  refer  ourselves  in 
this  regard,  praying  the-  Lord  to  assist  you  by  his  holy 
grace.* 

The  publication  of  this  letter  occasioned  a  general  con- 
sultation among  the  churches  of  the  marquisatc,  and  they 
returned  an  answer  to  it,  in  the  form  of  a  petition  to  tlve 
Duke  of  Savoy,  in  which  they  first  of  all  tender  their  thanks 
to  his  highness  for  having  permitted  them  so  long  to  enjoy 
their  religious  privileges  free  from  molestation,  in  the  same 
manner  as  he  had  found  them  when  he  took  possession  of 
the  marquisate,  in  1588.  They  then  proceed  humbly  to 
entreat  him  that  he  will  be  pleased  to  indulge  them  with  a 
continuance  of  the  same  privilege,  inasmuch  as  they  were 
persuaded  that  their  religious  profession  was  founded  on 
the  Holy  Scriptures,  by  which  standard  they  laboured  so 
to  regulate  their  lives  and  conversations,  as  to  give  no  just 
cause  of  ofl'ence  to  any  one.  And  when  they  reflected  that 
even  the  Jews  and  other  enemies  of  Christ  were  there  al- 
lowed to  live  in  peace,  and  the  enjoyment  of  their  religious 
worship,  they  confidently  hoped  that  those  who  were  found 
to  be  Christians,  and  faithful  to  God  and  their  prince, 
would  not  be  debarred  the  same  privilege. 

This  answer  was  not  wholly  without  efi'ect.  They  re- 
mained undisturbed  until  the  year  IGOI,  when,  in  the  month 
of  July,  an  edict  was  issued,  commanding  all  the  inhabitants 
of  the  marquisate  of  Saluces,  who  dissented  from  the  church 
of  Rome,  to  appear  individually  before   the   magistrates, 

*  Morland,  p.  263. 


300  History  of  the  Christian  Church.        [ch.  vi. 

within  the  space  of  fifteen  days,  and  there  declare  whether 
or  not  they  would  renounce  their  religious  profession  and 
go  to  mass.  In  the  former  case,  it  was  promised  them  that 
they  should  remain  peaceably  in  their  houses,  and  be  en- 
titled to  peculiar  advantages ;  while  in  the  latter,  they  were 
peremptorily  ordered  to  depart  out  of  his  highness's  do- 
minions, within  the  space  of  two  months,  and  never  to 
return  without  permission,  under  pain  of  death  and  the 
confiscation  of  their  property. 

The  Waldenses  appear  to  have  had  considerable  diffi- 
culty in  persuading  themselves  that  this  was  any  thing  more 
than  a  threat ;  in  which  unfounded  supposition  they  were 
encouraged  by  some  persons  of  note  among  them.  They, 
therefore,  made  no  preparation  for  a  departure,  by  the  set- 
tlement of  their  affairs;  but  appointed  deputies  to  wait  on 
the  duke,  to  obtain  a  revocation;  or  if  that  could  not  be 
effected,  at  any  rate,  a  modification  of  this  rigorous  edict. 
But  Clement  VIII.,  who  was  then  Pope,  had  got  complete 
possession  of  the  duke's  ear,  and  rendered  him  deaf  to  every 
entreaty.  To  carry  the  edict  into  full  effect,  a  great  num- 
ber of  inquisitorial  monks  were  dispatched  into  the  mar- 
quisate,  who,  on  their  arrival,  went  from  house  to  house, 
examining  the  inimbitants  concerning  their  religious  pro- 
fession— and  just  at  the  expiration  of  the  term  allowed  by 
the  edict,  their  deputies  returned,  but,  to  their  surprise  and 
amazement,  informed  them  that  every  hope  of  redress  had 
vanished.  The  consequence  was,  that  more  than  Jive  hun- 
dred families  were  driven  into  exile  ! 

"  Tho  world  was  all  before  them,  where  to  choose 
Their  place  of  rest,  aud  Providence  their  guide." 

Some  crossed  the  Alps,  and  retired  into  Dauphiny,  in 
France;  others  to  Geneva,  and  its  neighbourhood;  vvh.«Je 
many  sought  refuge  among  their  friends  in  the  valleys  of 
Piedmont;  where,  for  a  while,  they  remained  undisturbed, 


SECT,  v.]  JValdenses  vindicate  themselves.  301 

notwithstanding  the  edict  had  expressly  mentioned  that 
they  sliould  depart  out  of  the  dominions  of  the  Duke  of 
Savoy.* 

Whether  their  Catliolic  persecutors,  not  content  with  this 
too  gentle  mode  of  punishment,  endeavoured,  by  loading 
them  with  reproaches  and  false  accusations,  to  steel  the 
hearts  of  the  iniiabitants  of  other  countries  against  them, 
and  thereby  prevent  their  finding  an  asylum;  or  whatever 
was  their  particular  inducement  thereto,  it  is  certain  that 
they  considered  it  necessary,  in  the  year  1603,  to  publish 
a  declaration  explanatory  of  the  cause  of  their  banishment. 
Perrin  has  given  us  a  copy  of  it,  and  the  following  is  the 
substance : 

It  begins  by  stating,  that  from  time  immemorial,  and 
from  generation  to  generation,  the  same  doctrines  and  reli- 
gious profession  had  been  maintained  by  their  predecessors 
in  the  marquisate  of  Saluces ;  and  that,  w  hile  under  the 
jurisdiction  of  tlie  kings  of  France,  they  had  been  permitted 
to  profess  their  faith  without  molestation,  just  as  their  bre- 
thren of  the  valleys  of  Lucerne,  la  Perouse,  &tc.,  (in  Pied- 
mont) had  done  ;  but  that  his  highness,  instigated  by  the 
evil  counsels  of  persons  swayed  by  prejudice  and  passion 
rather  than  of  his  own  free  will,  had  issued  an  edict  to  dis- 
turb and  molest  them.  "  To  the  end,  therefore,"  say  they, 
"  that  all  men  may  know  that  it  is  not  for  any  crime  or 
misdemeanour,  perpetrated  against  the  person  of  our  prince, 
or  for  rebellion,  or  opposition  to  his  edicts,  or  for  murder, 
or  theft,  that  we  are  thus  persecuted,  and  spoiled  of  our 
goods  :  WE  PROTEST  AND  DECLARE,  that  the  doctrine  main- 
tained by  the  reformed  churches  of  France,  Switzerland, 
Germany,  Geneva,  England,  Scotland,  Denmark,  Sweden, 
Poland,  and  other  kingdoms,  is  the  only  Christian  doc- 
trine approved  of  God,  and  which  brings  salvation  to  men. 
We  are,  therefore,  determined  to  adhere  to  it,  to  the  end  of 
our  lives,  and  at  the  risk  of  every  thing  that  is  dear  to  us. 


*  Perria,  b,  ii.  ch.  v.     Moreland,  p.  26S. 
Vol.  II.  2  R 


302  History  of  the  Christian  Church.        [cH.  ti 

If  any  presume  to  think  us  in  an  error,  we  desire  to  be 
shown  wherein,  promising  to  abjure  and  turn  from  it,  and 
to  follow  the  better  way  that  shall  be  shown  us ;  for  we 
have  nothing  more  at  heart,  than,  with  a  good  conscience, 
to  worship  God,  agreeably  to  his  own  will,  and  attain  the 
salvation  of  our  souls.  But  as  attempts  have  been  made, 
by  mere  force,  to  compel  us  to  forsake  the  way  of  salvation, 
and  to  follow  after  the  erroneous  doctrines  and  superstitions 
invented  by  men,  we  choose  to  lose  our  houses  and  pro- 
perties, nay,  and  our  very  lives  also,  rather  than  comply." 

They,  therefore,  implore  the  reformed  churches,  in  the 
midst  of  their  exile  and  calamity,  to  receive  them  into 
their  fellowship  ;  being  prepared,  if  it  should  please  God 
so  to  order  it,  to  seal  their  testimony  with  their  blood. 
They  return  thanks  to  God,  for  the  honour  conferred  upon 
them,  by  calling  them  to  suffer  afflictions  and  persecutions 
for  his  name's  sake,  committing  the  issue  of  their  affairs, 
and  the  righteousness  of  their  cause,  unto  the  divine  provi- 
dence, trusting  that  he  will  effect  their  deliverance  when 
and  how  he  pleases.  And  they  conclude  with  a  prayer  to 
God,  that  he  who  hath  the  hearts  of  kings  and  princes  in 
his  hands,  would  be  graciously  pleased  to  soften  the  heart 
of  his  highness,  and  incline  hiin  to  pity  those  who  never 
did,  and  who  are  resolved  that  they  never  will  offend  him; 
and  that  it  may  be  given  him  to  perceive  that  they  are  more 
loyal  and  faithful  to  him,  than  those  are  who  have  instiga- 
ted him  to  such  persecutions.  And,  finally,  that  the  Lord 
will  be  pleased  to  support  them  in  the  midst  of  their  trials, 
and  to  fortify  them  with  patience  and  constancy,  that  they 
and  their  posterity  may  persevere  in  the  profession  of  truth 
to  the  end  of  their  lives. 

It  does  not  appear  that  this  affecting  address  produced 
any  melioration  of  the  condition  of  the  poor  exiles.  All 
the  churches  in  the  marquisate  of  Saluces  were  completely 
dispersed;  and  the  Pope,  with  the  assistance  of  his  inqui- 
sitorial band,  took  special  care  to  keep  the  country  clear  of 
them,  as  they  had  formerly  done  that  of  Calabria.     During 


SECT,  v.]  Crvel  order  of  Gasialdo.  303 

this  persecution,  Monsieur  Vignaux,  pastor  of  tlie  cliiirt  h 
of  Villaro,  in  the  valley  of  Lucerne,  whose  history  of  the 
Waldenses  1  have  frecjutntly  adverted  to,*  was  indefatiga- 
ble in  his  exertions  to  serve  his  aiilicted  brethren.  He  was 
then  far  advanced  in  life,  his  years  had  given  liim  the  ad- 
vantage of  much  experience  in  the  Christian  profession; 
and  he  was  remarkable  for  his  gravity  and  other  excellent 
qualities.  Deeply  feeling  for  their  distresses,  he  employed 
himself  in  writing  long  letters  to  his  poor  persecuted  bre- 
thren in  every  quarter,  exhorting  them  to  patience  and  perse- 
verance, and  encouraging  them  by  all  the  consolatory  con- 
siderations which  the  gospel  afiords,  not  to  faint  nor  be 
discouraged,  but  to  bear  up  under  their  troubles.  He  also 
wrote  to  several  of  the  nobility,  to  whom  he  was  known, 
either  personally  or  by  report,  particularly  to  the  governor 
of  the  marquisate,  with  whom  he  was  intimately  acquaint- 
ed, stating  the  injustice  and  cruelty  that  was  done  to  his 
friends,  and  urging  all  the  motives  and  reasons  that  he  could 
devise,  to  induce  him  to  mitigate  their  sufferings ;  but,  so 
far  as  appears,  without  the  least  effect. 

From  this  period,  the  Waldenses  appear  to  have  been  tole- 
rably free  from  very  severe  persecution  for  half  a  century. 
But,  in  the  month  of  January,  1655,  the  tragedy  of  Salu- 
ces  was  reacted  over  almost  all  the  valleys  of  Piedmont,  and 
with  tenfold  cruelty.  On  the  25th  of  that  month,  a  public 
document  appeared,  which  has  since  been  but  too  well 
known  by  the  title  of  "the  order  of  Gastaldo."  Thus  runs 
the  preamble : 

"  Andrew  Gastaldo,  Doctor  of  the  Civil  Law,  Master 
Auditor  Ordinary,  sitting  in  the  most  illustrious  chamber  of 
accounts  of  his  royal  highness,  and  Conservutor  General  of 
the  holy  faith,  for  the  observation  of  the  orders  published 
against  the  pretended  reformed  religion  of  the  valley  of 
Lucerne,  Perouse,  and  St.  Martino,  and  upon  this  account 
especially  deputed  by  his  said  royal  highness." 

*  See  particularly,  p.  78. 


304  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [cii.  vi. 

After  stating  the  authority  which  had  been  vested  in  him 
by  the  Duke,  on  the  13th  of  the  same  month,  it  proceeds 
"  to  command  and  enjoin  every  head  of  a  family,  with  its 
members,  of  tiie  reformed  rehgion,  of  whatever  rank,  de- 
gree or  condition  soever,  without  exception,  inhabiting  or 
possessing  estates  in  the  places  of  Lucerne,  Lucernetta,  S. 
Giovanni,  La  Torre,  Bubbiana,  and  Fenile,  Campiglione, 
Bricherassio,  and  S.  Secondo,  within  three  days  after  the 
-publication  of  those  presents,  to  withdraw  and  depart,  and 
to  be.,  with  their  families,  ivithdrawn  out  of  the  said  places,  and 
transported  into  the  places  allowed  by  his  royal  highness, 
during  his  good  pleasure,  &ic.,  under  pain  of  death  and  con- 
fiscation of  houses  and  goods — Provided  always  that  they  do 
not  make  it  appear  to  us  ivithin  twenty  days  folloiving,  that 
they  are  become  Catholics,  or  that  they  have  sold  their  goods 
to  the  Catholics.  Furthermore,  his  royal  highness  intends 
and  wills  that  in  tlie  places  (to  w  Inch  they  were  to  transport 
themselves)  the  holy  mass  shall  be  celebrated  in  every  one 
of  them,  and  that  for  any  person  of  the  said  reformed  reli- 
gion to  molest,  either  in  deed  or  word,  the  missionary  fa- 
thers and  those  that  attend  them,  much  less  to  divert  or  dis- 
suade any  one  of  the  said  religion  from  turning  Catholic, 
he  shall  do  it  on  pain  of  death,"  &,c. 

It  is  not  difficult  to  conjecture  what  must  have  been  the 
distress  and  misery  consequent  upon  a  compliance  with  such 
an  order  as  this,  and  more  especially  in  such  a  country  as 
Piedmont,  at  such  a  season  of  the  year.  Thousands  of 
families,  comprehending  the  aged  and  infirm,  the  sick  and 
aftlicted,  the  mother  advanced  in  pregnancy,  and  the  one 
scarcely  raised  up  from  her  confinement — the  delicate  fe- 
male and  the  helpless  infant — all  compelled  to  abandon 
their  homes  in  the  very  depth  of  winter,  in  a  country  where 
the  snow  is  visible  upon  the  tops  of  the  mountains,  through- 
out every  month  of  the  jear.  All  this  surely  presents  a 
picture  of  distress  sufficient  to  rend  the  heart. 

On  the  first  issuing  of  the  edict,  the  Waldenses  sent  de- 
puties to  the  governor  of  the  province,  humbly  represent- 


SECT,  v.]        Waldensian  account  of  the  massacre.  305 

ing  to  him  the  unreasonableness  and  the  cruelty  of  this  com- 
mand. They  stated  the  absolute  impossibility  of  so  many 
souls  finding  subsistence  in  the  places  to  which  they  were 
ordered  to  transport  themselves  ;  the  countries  scarcel}  af- 
fording adequate  supply  for  dieir  present  inhabitants.  To 
which  they  added,  that  this  command  was  expressly  con- 
trary to  all  their  rights  as  the  peaceable  subjects  of  his 
highness,  and  the  concessions  which  had  been  uniformly 
granted  them,  of  maintaining,  without  molestation,  their 
religious  profession  :  but  the  inhuman  governor  refused  to 
pay  the  least  attention  to  their  application.  Disappointed 
in  this,  they  next  begged  time  to  present  their  humble  sup- 
plication to  his  royal  highness.  But  even  this  boon  was 
refused  them,  unless  they  would  allow  him  to  draw  up  their 
petition  and  prescribe  the  form  of  it.  Finding  that  what 
he  proposed  was  equally  inimical  to  their  rights  and  con- 
sciences, they  declined  his  proposal.  They  now  found 
that  the  only  alternative  which  remained  for  them  was  to 
abandon  their  houses  and  properties,  and  to  retire,  with 
their  families,  their  wives  and  children,  aged  parents,  and 
helpless  infants,  the  halt,  the  lame,  and  the  blind,  to  traverse 
the  country,  through  the  rain,  snow,  and  ice,  encompassed 
with  a  thousand  difficulties. 

But  these  things  were  only  the  beginnings  of  sorrow  to 
this  afflicted  people.  For  no  sooner  had  they  quitted  their 
houses,  than  a  banditti  broke  into  them,  pillaging  and  plun- 
dering whatever  they  had  left  behind.  They  next  pro- 
ceeded to  raze  their  habitations  to  the  ground,  to  cut  down 
the  trees  and  turn  the  neighbourhood  into  a  desolate  wil- 
derness ;  and  all  this  without  the  least  remonstrance  or 
prohibition  from  Gastaldo.  These  things,  however,  were 
onl}'  a  trifle  in  comparison  to  what  followed.  But  the 
reader  will  best  learn  this  sad  story  from  the  parties  who 
were  interested  in  this  melancholy  catastrophe  ;  and  the 
following  is  a  copy  of  the  letter  which  some  of  the  survi- 
vors wrote  to  their  Christian  friends,  in  distant  countries, 
as  soon  as  the  tragedy  was  over. 


306 


History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [cH.  vi. 


A  brief  jVarrative  of  those  horrible  cruelties  which  were 
exercised  against  the  fValdenses,  in  the  late  Massacre,  in 
jljpril,  1655. 

Brethren  and  Fathers ! 

Our  tears  are  no  more  tears  of  water  but  of  blood,  which 
not  only  obscure  our  sight,  but  oppress  our  very  hearts. 
Our  pen  is  guided  by  a  trembhng  hand,  and  our  minds  dis- 
tracted by  such  unexpected  alarms,  that  we  are  incapable 
of  framing  a  letter  which  shall  correspond  with  our  wishes, 
or  the  strangeness  of  our  desolations.  In  this  respect, 
therefore,  we  plead  your  excuse,  and  that  you  would  en- 
deavour to  collect  our  meaning  from  what  we  would  im- 
part to  you. 

Whatever  reports  may  have  been  circulated  concerning 
our  obstinacy  in  refusing  to  have  recourse  to  his  royal 
highness  for  a  redress  of  our  heavy  grievances  and  moles- 
tations, you  cannot  but  know  that  we  have  never  desisted 
from  writing  supplicatory  letters,  or  presenting  our  hunjble 
requests,  by  the  hands  of  our  deputies,  and  that  they  were 
sent  and  referred,  sometimes  to  the  council  de  propaganda 
fde,*  at  other  times  to  the  Marquis  of  Pionessa,f  and  that 
the  three  last  times  they  were  positively  rejected,  and  re- 
fused so  much  as  an  audience,  under  the  pretext  that  they 
had  no  credentials  nor  instructions  which  should  authorize 
them  to  promise  or  accept,  on  the  behalf  of  their  respec- 
tive churches,  whatever  it  might  please  his  highness  to  grant 
or  bestow  upon  them.  And  by  the  instigation  and  con- 
trivance of  the  Roman  clergy,  there  was  secretly  placed  in 
ambush  an  army  of  six  thousand  men,  who,  animated  and 
encouraged  thereto  by  the  personal  presence   and  active 


*  A  Council  established  by  the  court  of  Rome  for  propagating  the 
faith,  or,  in  plain  English,  for  extirpating  heretics. 

f  This  unfeeling  man  seems  to  have  sustained  the  station  of  prime 
minister  in  the  court  of  the  Duke  of  Savoy,  aad  commander  in  chief 
«f  his  army. 


SECT,  v.]       Waldensian  account  of  the  massacre.  307 

exertions  of  the  Marquis  of  Pionessa,  fell  suddenly,  and  in 
the  most  violent  manner,  upon  the  inhabitants  of  S.  Gio- 
vanni and  La  Torre. 

This  army  having  once  entered  and  got  a  footing,  was 
soon  augmented  by  the  addition  of  a  multitude  of  the 
neighbouring  inhabitants  throughout  all  Piedmont,  who 
hearing  that  we  were  given  up  as  a  prey  to  the  plunderers, 
fell  upon  the  poor  people  with  impetuous  fury.  To  all 
those  were  added  an  incalculable  number  of  persons  that 
had  been  outlawed,  prisoners,  and  other  oll'enders,  who  ex- 
pected thereby  to  have  saved  their  souls  and  fdled  their 
purses.  And  the  better  to  effect  their  purposes,  the  inhabi- 
tants were  compelled  to  receive  five  or  six  regiments  of  the 
French  army,  besides  some  Irish,  to  whom,  it  is  reported, 
our  country  was  promised,  with  several  troops  of  vagabond 
persons,  under  the  pretext  of  coming  into  the  valleys  for 
fresh  quarters. 

This  great  multitude,  by  virtue  of  a  license  from  the 
Marquis  of  Pionessa,  instigated  by  the  monks,  and  enticed 
and  conducted  by  our  wicked  and  unnatural  neighbours, 
attacked  us  with  such  violence  on  every  side,  especially  iji 
Angrogne,  Villaro,  and  Bobbio ;  and  in  a  manner  so  hor- 
ribly treacherous,  that  in  an  instant  all  was  one  entire  scene 
of  confusion,  and  the  inhabitants,  after  a  fruitless  skirmish 
to  defend  themselves,  were  compelled  to  flee  for  their  lives» 
with  their  wives  and  children  ;  and  that  not  merely  the 
inhabitants  of  the  plain,  but  those  of  the  mountains  also. 
Nor  was  all  their  diligence  sufficient  to  prevent  the  destruc- 
tion of  a  very  considerable  number  of  them.  For,  in  many 
places  such  as  Villaro  and  Bobbio,  they  were  so  hemmed  in 
on  every  side,  the  army  having  seized  on  the  fort  of  Mare- 
burgh,  and  by  that  means  blocked  up  the  avenue,  that  there 
remained  no  possibiHty  of  escape,  and  nothing  remained 
for  them  but  to  be  massacred  and  put  to  death.  In  one 
place  they  mercilessly  tortured  not  less  than  a  hundred 
and  fifty  women  and  their  children,  chopping  off  the  heads 
of  some,  and  dashing  the  brains  of  others  against  the  rocks. 


308  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [ch.  vi. 

And  in  regard  to  those  whom  they  took  prisoners  from  fif- 
teen years  old  and  upwards,  who  refused  to  go  to  mass, 
they  hanged  some,  and  nailed  others  to  the  trees  by  the 
feet  with  their  heads  downwards.  It  is  reported  that  they 
carried  some  persons  of  note,  prisoners  to  Turin,  viz.  our 
poor  brother  and  pastor,  Mr.  Gros,  with  some  part  of  his 
family.  In  short,  there  is  neither  cattle  nor  provisions  of 
any  kind  left  in  the  valley  of  Lucerne ; — it  is  but  too  evi- 
dent that  all  is  lost,  since  there  are  some  whole  districts, 
especially  S.  Giovanni  and  La  Torre,  where  the  business 
of  setting  fire  to  our  houses  and  churches  was  so  dexter- 
ously managed,  by  a  Franciscan  friar,  and  a  certain  priest, 
that  they  left  not  so  much  as  one  of  either  unburnt.  In 
these  desolations,  the  mother  has  been  bereft  of  her  dear 
child — the  husband  of  his  afiectionate  wife  !  Those  who 
were  once  the  richest  amongst  us  are  reduced  to  the  neces- 
sity of  begging  their  bread,  while  others  still  remain  wel- 
tering in  their  own  blood,  and  deprived  of  all  the  comforts 
of  life.  And  as  to  the  churches  in  S.  Martino  and  other 
places,  who,  on  all  former  occasions,  have  been  a  sanctuary 
to  the  persecuted,  they  have  themselves  now  been  summon- 
ed to  quit  their  dwellings,  and  every  soul  of  them  to  de- 
part, and  that  instantaneously  and  without  respite,  under 
pain  of  being  put  to  death.  Nor  is  there  any  mercy  to  be 
expected  by  any  of  them  who  are  found  within  the  domi- 
nions of  his  royal  highness. 

The  pretext  which  is  alleged  for  justifying  these  horrid 
proceedings  is,  that  we  are  rebels  against  the  orders  of  his 
highness,  for  not  having  brought  the  whole  city  of  Geneva 
within  the  walls  of  Mary  Magdalene  church  ;  or,  in  plainer 
terms,  for  not  having  performed  an  utter  impossibility,  in 
departing,  in  a  moment,  from  our  houses  and  homes  in 
Bubbiana,  Lucerne,  Fenile,  Bricheras  La  Torre,  S.  Gio- 
vanni, and  S.  Secondo ;  and  also,  for  having  renewed  our 
repeated  supplications  to  his  royal  highness,  to  commise- 
rate our  situation,  who,  while  on  the  one  hand  he  promised 
us  to  make  no  innovations  in  our  lot,  on  the  other  refused 


SECT,  v.]  Effects  of  this  persecution.  30^ 

«s  permission  to  depart  peaceably  out  of  his  dominions, 
which  we  have  often  entreated  him  for,  in  case  he  would 
not  allow  us  to  continue  and  enjoy  the  liberty  of  our  con- 
sciences, as  his  predecessors  had  always  done.  True  it  is, 
that  the  Marquis  of  Pionessa  adduced  another  reason,  and 
we  have  the  original  copy  of  his  writing  in  our  possession, 
which  is,  that  it  was  his  royal  highness's  pleasure  to  abase 
us  and  humble  our'pride,  for  endeavouring  to  shroud  our- 
selves, and  take  sanctuary,  under  the  protection  of  foreign 
princes  and  states. 

To  conclude,  our  beautiful  and  flourishing  churches  are 
^utterly  lost,  and  that  without  remedy,  unless  our  God  work 
miracles  for  us.  Their  time  is  come,  and  our  measure  is 
full!  O  have  pitj/  upon  the  desolations  of  Jerusalem,  and 
be  grieved  for  the  afflictions  of  Joseph.  Show  forth  your 
compassions,  and  let  your  bowels  yearn  in  behalf  of  so 
many  thousands  of  poor  souls,  who  are  reduced  to  a  morsel 
of  bread,  for  following  the  Lamb  whithersoever  he  goeth. 
We  recommend  our  pastors,  with  their  scattered  and  dis- 
persed flocks,  to  your  fervent  Christian  prayers,  and  rest  in 
haste. 

Your  brethren  in  the  Lord. 

April  27,  1655. 

The  reader  may  collect  from  this  letter  some  general 
notion  of  the  tenor  of  the  proceedings  that  were  at  this 
time  carried  on  against  the  Waldenses  in  Piedmont;  and 
they  appear  to  have  been  extended  progressively  through- 
out almost  the  whole  country.  But  if  credit  is  to  be  given 
to  the  statements  of  our  countryman,  Sir  Samuel  Morland, 
who  in  the  very  same  year  was  sent  by  the  English  go- 
vernment to  administer  pecuniary  assistance  to  these  af- 
flicted people, — if  any  regard  is  due  to  the  attestations 
which  he  has  produced  from  persons  who  were  spectators 
of  the  dreadful  work  of  carnage,  it  is  but  a  famt  impression 
of  the  scene,  which  can  be  derived  from  that  letter.  The 
representation  given  us  by  Sir  Samuel,  and  further  cor~ 

Vol.11.  2S 


SIO  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [ch.  vi, 

roborated  by  Leger,  in  his  General  History  of  the  Churches 
of  Piedmont,  beggars  all  description,  for  atrocity.  Nor,  if 
the  infernal  regions  had  been  disembowelled  of  their  in- 
habitants, and  the  whole  let  loose  among  the  valleys  of 
Piedmont,  could  we  have  expected  the  perpetration  of 
greater  enormities.  The  bare  report  of  them  spread  amaze- 
ment throughout  all  the  Protestant  states  of  Europe,  as 
we  shall  presently  see;  and  the  principal  actors  in  this 
deep  tragedy  found  it  necessary  to  aim  at  extricating  their 
characters  from  the  odium  which  attached  to  it.  In  par- 
ticular the  Marquis  of  Pionessa  laboured  to  cast  the  blame 
upon  certain  officers  of  his  army,  which  induced  one  of 
them,  not  only  to  give  up  the  command  of  the  regiment, 
but  actually  to  draw  up  an  affidavit,  which  he  attested  with 
his  own  hand,  and  got  it  further  corroborated  by  the  testi- 
mony of  two  of  his  brother  officers,  in  vindication  of  his 
conduct  in  that  affair.  Sir  Samuel  Morland  obtained  pos- 
session of  the  original  document,  which  he  deposited  in 
the  University  of  Cambridge,  along  with  an  infinite  num- 
ber of  other  interesting  manuscripts  relating  to  this  subject, 
and  it  appears  of  sufficient  importance  to  be  submitted  to 
the  reader's  consideration. 

"I,  SiEUR  Du  Petit  Bourg,  first  captain  of  the  regi- 
ment of  Groncy,  who  also  commanded  the  same,  having 
received  direction  from  Prince  Thomas,  to  join  the  Marquis 
of  Pionessa,  who  was  then  at  La  Torre,  and  to  receive  his 
orders — when  I  was  upon  the  eve  of  departure,  the  am- 
bassador sent  for  me,  and  desired  me  to  speak  to  M.  de 
Pionessa,  and  to  use  my  endeavours  to  accommodate  the 
troubles  which  had  happened  among  those  of  the  religion 
[of  the  Waldenses]  in  the  valleys  of  Piedmont.  In  order 
to  which  I  addressed  myself  to  the  marquis,  earnestly  entreat- 
ing him  that  he  would  give  way,  and  allow  me  to  under- 
take an  accommodation,  which  1  suppose  I  might  have 
been  able  to  effect.  But  he  repeatedly  refused  my  request, 
in  defiance  of  all  the  endeavours  1  could  possibly  use  to 


SECT,  v.]  Petit  Bourg's  defence  against  Pionessa.  311 

persuade  him.  And  instead  of  the  least  mitigation  of  mat- 
ters, which  could  be  produced  by  any  consideration  that  I 
could  lay  before  him,  I  was  witness  to  many  acts  of  vio- 
lence, and  extreme  cruelties  exercised  by  the  banditti  and 
soldiers  of  Piedmont,  upon  all  sorts  of  persons,  of  every 
age,  sex,  and  condition,  whom  I  myself  saw  massacred, 
dismembered,  hung  upj  females  violated,  and  numerous 
other  horrid  atrocities  committed.  And  so  far  is  it  from 
being  true  that  the  whole  was  done  by  virtue  of  the  orders 
that  were  issued  by  me,  as  falsely  stated  in  a  certain  rela- 
tion printed  in  French  and  Italian,  that  /  beheld  the  same 
with  horror  and  regret.  And  whereas  it  is  said  in  the  same 
relation,  that  the  Marquis  of  Pionessa  commanded  me  to 
treat  them  peaceably,  without  hostility,  and  in  the  best 
manner  I  possibly  could,  the  event  clearly  demonstrated 
that  the  orders  he  gave  were  altogether  of  a  contrary  ten- 
dency, since  it  is  most  certain  that  without  distinction  of 
those  who  resisted,  from  those  who  made  no  resistance, 
they  were  used  with  all  sorts  of  inhumanity — their  houses 
burnt,  their  goods  plundered,  and  when  prisoners  were 
brought  before  the  Marquis  of  Pionessa,  I  was  a  witness  to 
his  issuing  orders  to  give  them  no  quarter  at  all,  assigning 
as  a  reason,  that  his  highness  was  resolved  to  have  none  of 
that  religion  in  any  of  his  dominions. 

"  And  as  to  what  he  protests  in  the  same  declaration, 
namely,  that  no  hurt  was  done  to  any,  except  during  the 
fight,  nor  the  least  outrage  committed  upon  any  unoffend- 
ing and  helpless  persons,  I  do  assert,  and  will  maintain,  that 
such  is  not  the  truth,  having  seen  with  my  own  eyes  several 
men  killed  in  cold  blood,  and  also  women,  aged  persons, 
and  children,  miserably  murdered. 

"  And  with  regard  to  the  manner  in  which  they  put  them- 
selves in  possession  of  the  valley  of  Angrogne,  to  pillage, 
and  entirely  burn  the  same,  it  was  done  with  great  ease. 
For,  excepting  six  or  seven  persons,  who,  seeing  there 
would  be  no  mercy  shown  them,  made  some  show  of  resist- 
ance, the  rest  were  dispersed  without  difficulty,  the  peasants 


312  History  of  the  Christian  Church.         [ch.  vr. 

consulting  how  to  flee,  rather  than  how  to  fight  the  enemy. 
In  short,  I  absolutely  deny,  and  protest,  as  in  the  presence 
of  God,  that  none  of  those  cruelties  were  executed  by  my 
order;  but,  on  the  contrary,  seeing  that  I  could  not  procure 
a  remedy,  I  was  constrained  to  retire  and  quit  the  com- 
mand of  the  regiment,  not  liking  to  be  present  at  such, 
wicked  transactions. 

^'-Done  at  Pignerol,  November  27th,  1655. 

"Du  Petit  Bourg.'' 

Now  whatever  may  be  thought  of  this  defence,  or  upon, 
whomsoever  the  onus  of  guilt  may  devolve,  it  seems  a  fair 
inference  from  these  documents,  that  cruelties  of  the  most 
enormous  kinds  were  at  this  time  inflicted  by  the  Catholic 
party  upon  the  Waldenses  throughout  the  whole  country 
of  Piedmont, — upon  a  class  of  men  whose  sole  crime  was, 
that  they  dissented  from  the  communion  of  the  church  of 
Kome,  and  refused  to  countenance  her  idolatry  and  super- 
stition. And  that  their  sufferings  were  of  no  ordinary  cast, 
may  be  inferred  from  the  single  consideration,  that  the}' 
excited  the  commiseration  of,  and,^  at  the  same  time,  ex- 
torted remonstraiices  from,  almost  every  Protestant  court 
in  Europe,  who  raised  large  contributions  to  relieve  the 
poverty,  and  sent  their  ministers  to  the  court  of  Savoy,  to 
intercede  with  the  duke  for  the  melioration  of  the  condition, 
of  his  subjects.  In  this  benevolent  work,  it  is  a  gratify- 
ing reflection,  that  our  own  country  took  the  lead,  as  will 
more  particularly  be  shown  in  the  next  section:  I  shall 
close  the  present  with  an  article  of  no  inconsiderable  in- 
terest in  the  history  of  the  churches  of  Piedmont. 

While  the  fire  of  persecution  was,  as  we  have  seen,  so 
fiercely  raging  against  the  Waldenses,  in  the  early  part  of 
the  year  1655,  two  persons  who  sustained  the  pastoral 
office,  in  the  valley  of  Lucerne,  were  seized  and  sent  as 
prisoners  to  the  city  of  Turin,  probably  with  a  multitude 
of  others  who  escaped  the  edge  of  the  enemy's  sword.     It 


=>ECT.  T.]        Confession  of  Gros  and  Aguit.  .31v> 

is  but  doing  justice  to  the  Catholic  party  to  say  of  them, 
that  they  seldom  evinced  their  delight  in  human  blood  to 
such  an  excess  as  to  prefer  it  to  that  of  converting  a  heretic 
to  their  faith.  In  general  they  only  gave  it  the  preference 
to  the  alternative  of  allowing  persons  to  think  dilferently 
from  themselves.  Nor  would  it  be  fair  to  accuse  them  of 
remissness  in  their  expedients  and  exertions  to  recover  back 
again  to  the  true  church  such  as  they  supposed  were  gone 
astray.  In  that  respect  they  could  always  display  the 
wisdom  of  the  serpent,  though  seldom,  alas!  the  harmless- 
ness  of  the  dove.  On  the  present  occasion,  the  two  pastors 
above  referred  to,  whose  names  were  Peter  Gros  and 
Francis  Aguit,  were  unhappily  entrapped  by  the  monks 
of  the  inquisition,  and  they  fell  from  their  profession.  The 
renunciation  of  their  principles  would  ensure  their  libera- 
tion from  prison.  The  chains  were  taken  from  their  bodies,, 
and  they  recovered  their  liberty — but  in  a  short  time  the 
burden  was  transferred  from  the  body  to  the  mind,  and 
their  own  consciences  rendered  them  miserable.  In  this 
state  of  things,  they  applied  for  readmission  into  the 
churches,  and  the  following  declaration  of  the  state  of  their 
minds  was  publicly  made  by  them,  before  a  full  assembly 
of  their  brethren,  convened  at  Pinache,  in  the  valley  of 
Perouse,  on  the  28th  and  29th  August,  1655,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  taking  their  case  into  consideration. 

Most  honoured  Fathers  and  Brethren  in  the  Lord. 

We  could  have  wished  that  a  less  mournful  occasion  had 
caused  our  present  appearance  in  public,  and  that  a  more 
favourable  opportunity  had  made  us  known  to  the  worlds 
by  some  notable  action,  the  remembrance  of  which  might 
have  been  as  a  blessing  in  the  churches;  but  as  our  names 
can  only  be  famous  by  the  horrible  scandal  which  we  have 
brought  upon  the  church  of  God,  we  now  come  forth  out 
of  the  dark  dungeons  of  our  own  shame  and  confusion, 
and  present  ourselves  before  men,  to  testify  to  all  the  world 
our  conversion  and  repentance,  and  to  give  indubitable 


314  History  of  the  Christian  Church.        [ch.  vi. 

proofs  of  our  grief,  for  that  we  have  been  so  base  as  to  for- 
sake our  former  profession. 

When  we  reflect  upon  those  advantages  with  which, 
above  others,  the  Lord  was  pleased  to  bless  us,  in  granting 
us  a  reh^ious  education,  and  the  knowledge  of  his  saving 
grace,  thus  teaching  us  where  true  happiness  is  to  be  found; 
and  finally  to  have  been  called  to  the  highest  employment 
that  msn  can  have  in  this  world,  viz.  to  be  the  heralds  of 
God's  justice,  and  the  preachers  of  his  truth,  we  cannot, 
without  horror,  speak  of  our  offence,  and  are  constrained 
to  confess  that  our  sin  is  rendered  much  more  odious  in 
that,  having  known  our  Master's  will,  we  nevertheless  with- 
drew our  shoulders  from  his  service,  and  have  acted  in 
opposition  to  his  command. 

It  was  in  these  last  calamities  which  have  overrun  our 
country,  that  we  thus  made  shipwreck — after  having  lost 
our  liberty  and  our  goods — when  the  enemies  of  the  truth, 
having  resolved  upon  extirpating  our  religion  in  the  valleys 
of  Piedmont,  exercised  the  most  barbarous  cruelties  upon 
our  countrymen.  And  we,  having  fallen  into  their  hands, 
after  they  had  showed  us  how  far  their  inhumanity  could 
reach,  to  give  us  a  proof  of  the  utmost  degree  of  it,  they 
caused  us  to  be  thrown  into  prison,  when  they  proceeded 
against  us,  and  sentenced  us  to  death  as  guilty  of  high 
treason,  and  the  ringleaders  of  rebellion,  incessantly  set- 
ting before  our  eyes  the  torments  and  punishments  to 
which  we  were  condemned;  and,  to  render  us  more  flexible 
to  the  enticements  of  the  Jesuits,  who,  without  ceasing, 
solicited  us  to  accept  of  a  pardon  which  they  would  ob- 
tain for  us  on  our  embracing  Popery,  and  abjuring  our 
religion. 

At  their  first  onsets,  we  were  confident  that,  so  far  from 
yielding  to  them,  we  had  strength  and  fortitude  enough  to 
despise  whatever  superstition  could  present  before  our  eyes 
as  terrible  or  dreadful — and  that  the  dark  and  dismal  shades 
of  death  itself,  with  which  they  threatened  us,  were  insufli- 
cient  to  extinguish  that  heavenly  light  which  then  shined 


SECT,  v.]        Confession  of  Gros  and  j9guit.  315 

in  our  souls.  But  to  our  extreme  grief,  we  have  learned 
how  frail  our  nature  is,  and  how  deceitful  the  wisdom  of 
the  flesh,  w  Inch,  for  the  enjoyment  of  a  frail  and  transitory 
life,  prevailed  upon  us  to  forego  those  unspeakably  good 
things  which  God  hath  prepared  for  his  children,  and  that 
everlasting  joy,  of  which  those  are  made  partakers  who 
endure  to  the  end.  It  was  this  fleshly  wisdom,  which, 
from  a  desire  to  preserve  this  house  of  clay,  this  earthly 
tabernacle,  and  to  avoid  a  shameful  death,  and  a  punish- 
ment ignominious  in  the  eyes  of  the  world,  that  induced 
us  to  a  shameful  falling  away,  turning  our  backs  upon  him 
who  is  the  fountain  of  hfe.  We  have  lent  our  ears  to  this 
deceitful  Delilahj  and  although  there  were  not  ofl'ered  to  us 
any  reasons  so  strong  as  in  the  least  degree  to  obscure  the 
truth  that  we  did  profess,  yet  we  freely  acknowledge  that 
the  fear  of  death  and  the  horror  of  torments,  shook  our 
courage,  and  beat  down  our  strength;  and  we  have  de- 
cayed and  dried  up  like  water,  not  resisting  to  blood,  as 
the  profession,  not  only  of  Christians,  but  more  especially 
of  Christian  ministers,  obliged  us  to  do. 

Having  been  persuaded,  by  deceitful  reasoning,  that  life 
is  preferable  to  death — that  we  might  be  further  profitable 
to  the  church,  to  our  country,  and  to  our  families — that 
there  was  no  glory  in  dying  as  rebels,  and  that  one  day  we 
might  get  out  of  captivity,  and  manifest  to  the  world,  that 
if  the  confession  had  been  wanting  in  our  mouths,  yet  the 
faith  had  not  been  wanting  in  our  hearts. — Thus  we  ac- 
cepted of  pardon  on  these  miserable  conditions,  and  have 
not  hesitated  to  enter  into  the  temple  of  idols,  and  employ 
our  mouths  and  tongues  in  uttering  blasphemies  against 
the  truth  of  heaven,  in  denying  and  abjuring  the  same; 
and  our  sacrilegious  hands  also  in  subscribing  the  acts  and 
events  of  this  infamous  apostacy,  which  has  drawn  many 
others  into  the  same  perdition.  Our  light  has  become 
darkness,  and  our  salt  has  lost  its  savour — we  have  fallen 

from  heaven  to  the  earth — from   the   spirit  to   the   flesh 

and  from  life  to  death.     We  have  made  ourselves  obnoxious 


316  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [ch.  vi. 

to  the  curse  whicli  the  Lord  hath  pronounced  on  those  by 
whom  oflences  come.  And  having  made  Ught  of  the 
threatenings  of  the  Son  of  God  against  those  who  shall 
deny  him  before  men,  we  have  deserved  to  be  denied  by 
him  before  his  heavenly  Father.  Finally,  we  have  ren- 
dered ourselves  unworthy  of  divine  favours  and  mercy, 
and  have  drawn  upon  our  guilty  heads  whatever  is  most 
dreadful  in  the  wrath  of  God  and  his  indignations — and 
have  deserved  to  be  rejected  of  the  church  as  stumbling- 
blocks  or  rocks  of  offence,  and  that  the  faithful  should 
even  abhor  our  company. 

But  as  we  have  learned  in  the  school  of  the  prophets, 
that  the  mercies  of  God  are  infinite,  and  that  the  Lord 
hath  no  pleasure  in  the  destruction  of  his  poor  creatures, 
but  calleth  the  sinner  to  repentance,  that  lie  may  give  him 
life,  we  presume  to  appear  before  his  face,  to  humble  our- 
selves in  his  holy  presence,  to  bewail  the  greatness  of  our 
sin,  and  to  make  before  him  a  free  confession  of  our  ini- 
quity. O  that  our  heads  might  melt  into  waters  of  bit- 
terness, and  our  eyes  were  turned  into  fountains  of  tears, 
to  express  the  grief  wherewith  our  souls  are  pressed  down. 
As  our  sin  is  of  no  ordinary  measure,  so  it  calls  for  extra- 
ordinary repentance ;  and  as  we  acknowledge  it  to  be  one 
of  the  greatest  that  can  be  committed,  so  do  we  wish  that 
our  repentance  should  reach  the  lowest  degree  of  humilia- 
tion, and  that  the  acts  of  our  contrition  may  be  known  to 
the  world.  If  David,  for  lighter  faults,  was  willing  that  his 
complaints  and  his  deep  sorrow  and  repentance  should  be 
left,  as  it  were,  for  a  memorial  in  the  church,  well  may  we 
not  be  ashamed  to  publish  among  men  the  inconsolable  re- 
gret which  we  feel  for  having  offended  God,  and  giving  an 
occasion  of  scandal  to  the  assemblies  of  the  saints ;  and 
we  deserve  to  have  imprinted  upon  our  foreheads  a  mark 
of  perpetual  infamy  for  our  miserable  fall,  to  make  the 
memory  thereof  continue  fqr  ever.  And  if  we  can  make  it 
apparent  that  the  sorrow  it  hath  begotten  in  us  is  extreme, 
and  that  we  now  disclaim  whatever  fear  formerly  forced  us 


SECT,  v.]  Confession  of  Gros  and  Aguit.  317 

to  do  contrary  to  the  dictates  of  our  consciences,  we  trust 
that  he  who  forgave  Peter  when  he  denied  Christ  in  the 
court  of  Caiaphas,  will  grant  us  the  same  grace,  since  we 
are  come  to  ask  forgiveness  in  all  humility,  with  tears  in 
our  eyes,  confession  in  our  mouths,  and  contrition  in  our 
hearts  ;  and  that,  as  there  is  joy  in  heaven  over  one  sinner 
that  repenteth,  so  there  may  be  joy  in  the  congregation  of 
the  faithful  when  they  shall  behold  our  conversion  to  the 
Lord. 

Great  God!  Almighty  Father!  dreadful  in  thine 
anger  ;  in  whose  presence  no  sinner  can  subsist  a  moment ; 
we  prostrate  ourselves  at  the  feet  of  thy  Majesty  as  poor 
miserable  oflenders,  confessing  that  we  have  justly  provok- 
ed thee  to  anger  by  our  transgressions  and  iniquities,  and 
drawn  upon  ourselves  thy  righteous  judgments,  in  that  we 
have  forsaken  thy  heavenly  truth,  and  bowed  the  knee  be- 
fore the  idol !  But  how  shall  we  now  appear  before  thee, 
O  thou  judge  of  the  quick  and  dead,  since  by  so  doing, 
we  have  deserved  to  feel,  not  only  in  this  life  thy  most  se- 
vere rod  and  punishment,  but  that  thou  shouldest  also  cut 
us  off  from  the  number  of  the  living,  and  cast  us  headlong 
into  the  lake  of  fire  and  brimstone,  where  there  is  weeping 
and  gnashing  of  teeth.  O  God  !  rich  in  compassions  and 
infinite  in  mercies !  which  thou  multipliest  even  in  judg- 
ment ;  turn  us  and  we  shall  be  turned  !  be  merciful  to  us, 
forgive  us  our  ofl'ence  !  blot  out  our  iniquity  !  and  impute 
not  our  sin  unto  us  !  Open  unto  us  the  door  of  thy  grace ; 
that  we  may  be  partakers  of  this  thy  salvation.  O  Lord 
Jesus,  Redeemer  of  souls,  who  earnest  into  this  world  for 
the  sake  of  poor  sinners  ;  look  upon  our  atfliction  !  Re- 
ceive us  to  mercy  !  and  grant  that,  our  sins  being  washed 
away  in  thy  most  precious  blood,  we  may  draw  near  to  the 
throne  of  thy  grace,  with  confidence  to  obtain  mercy. 
Raise  us  up  from  our  fall !  strengthen  us  in  our  weakness ! 
and  although  Satari  hath  sought  to  sift  us,  suffer  not  our 
faith  [utterly]  to  fail !  Work  in  us  efiectually  both  to  will 
and  to  do  according  to  thy  good  pleasure.     It  is  thou  who 

Vol.  II.  2  T 


318  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [ch.  ri= 

hast  stretched  out  thine  haud  around  us !  it  is  thy  strong 
hand  which  hath  helped  us  !  Thou  hast  taken  us  out  of 
captivity  both  of  body  and  soul,  in  which  we  lay  lauguish- 
hig,  and  hast  afforded  us  the  liberty  to  call  upon  thy  name  ! 
Thou  hast  heard  our  cries  out  of  the  deep,  and  hast  given 
us  fresh  cause  to  rejoice  in  thy  goodness,  and  to  bless  thy 
holy  name ;  to  whom  be  everlasting  glory  ascribed,  at  all 
times,  and  in  all  ages !     Amen. 

And  you  faithful  souls,  who  witness  our  contrite  heart 
and  broken  spirit  before  the  Lord  ;  O  commiserate  our 
lamentable  state  !  Learn  by  our  example,  how  great  is 
human  frailty,  and  what  a  precipice  we  fall  into  whenever 
God  withdraws  his  supporting  hand  from  us  !  Consider, 
that  as  it  hath  been  to  us  an  extreme  infelicity  to  have  fallen 
into  so  great  a  sin,  so  have  you  an  argument  to  rejoice  in 
God  through  whose  grace  you  have  been  gi\en  to  stand  ! 
Watch  and  pray  tliat  you  enter  not  into  temptation  !  Hold 
fast  that  which  you  have,  that  no  man  take  your  crown  ! 
Be  faithful  to  the  Lord  Jesus  even  unto  death,  that  so  ye 
may  obtain  the  crown  of  life  !  And  be  assured  that,  aside 
from  the  profession  of  his  truth,  which  you  make  to  the 
exclusion  of  all  other  sorts  of  religion  whatsoever,  there  is 
nothing  but  death,  horror,  and  astonishment.  This  is  a 
thing  which  we  are  enabled  to  assure  you  of  from  our  own 
experience,  because  from  the  very  first  moment  we  gave 
our  consent  to  this  unhappy  apostacy,  our  consciences  have 
given  us  no  rest  at  all ;  and  through  their  continual  harass- 
ings  and  agitations,  they  have  not  suffered  us  to  enjoy 
any  of  that  comfort  which  a  Christian  soul  experiences  in 
tribulation,  until  it  pleased  God  to  draw  us  out  of  the  filthy 
quagmire  of  Babylon,  and  caused  us  to  return  to  his  ways. 
And  do  you.  Christians,  lend  your  helping  hand ;  let  your 
arms  be  opened  to  embrace  lis  ;  do  not  count  us  unworthy 
of  your  holy  communion,  although  we  have  been  an  occa- 
sion  of  offence.  Suffer  us  to  pour  into  your  bosom  a  tor- 
rent of  tears,  to  deplore  our  condition,  and  to  assure  you, 
in  Uie  anguish  of  our  souls,  tliat  our  grief  is  greater  than 


SECT.  VI.]  Characler  of  Oliver  Cromnrll.  319 

we  can  express.  Help  us  by  your  holy  prayers  to  the 
Lord,  and  publish  our  repentance  in  all  places,  where  you 
conceive  our  sin  has  been  or  shall  be  known,  that  so  it  may 
be  evident  to  all  the  world  that,  from  the  very  bottom  of 
our  souls,  we  grieve  and  are  full  of  sorrow  for  it ;  and 
that,  in  the  presence  of  God  and  of  his  holy  angels,  as 
well  as  of  those  who  now  witness  our  contrition,  we  do  ab- 
jure and  detest  the  pretended  sacrifice  of  the  mass,  the  au- 
thority of  the  Pope,  and,  in  general,  all  the  worship  that 
is  dependent  on  them.  We  recant  whatsoever  we  have 
pronounced  to  the  prejudice  of  evangelical  truth,  and  pro- 
mise, for  the  future,  through  divine  assistance,  to  persevere 
in  the  profession  of  the  reformed  religion  to  the  last  mo- 
ment of  our  lives,  and  rather  to  suflor  death  and  torments, 
than  to  renounce  that  holy  doctrine  which  is  taught  in  our 
churches,  and  which  we  believe  to  be  agreeable  to  the  word 
of  God  ;  all  which  we  protest  and  promise  with  our  bended 
knees  upon  the  earth,  and  our  hands  lifted  up  to  the  Eter- 
nal, our  Almighty  God,  the  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Spirit ; 
and  as  we  desire  his  aid,  to  enable  us  to  do  this,  even  so 
may  he  help  us,  even  our  God.     Amex. 


SECTiorr  vz. 

History  of  the  Waldenses  continued  during  the  seventeenth 
century ;  with  an  account  of  the  humane  interference  and 
generous  conduct  of  the  English  nation  towards  their  per- 
secuted brethren  in  Piedmont ;  including  the  interesting 
Letters  of  Milton  in  their  behalf,  addressed  to  the  Pro- 
testant States  of  Europe. 

A.  D.    1655. 

Amongst  those  who  have  made  a  conspicuous  figure  on 
the  theatre  of  Europe,  in  modern  times,  there  are  ^qw  cha- 


320  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [ch.  vi 

racters  w  liicli  historians  have  found  it  more  difficult  to  de- 
lineate correctly  than  that  of  Oliver  Cromwell.  This  ex- 
traordinary person  held  the  reins  of  the  English  govern- 
ment, at  the  time  the  Waldenses  were  experiencing,  in  the 
valleys  of  Piedmont,  the  complicated  suflenngs  which  have 
been  detailed  in  the  preceding  section.  The  strange  com- 
bination of  Iraud  and  force,  by  means  of  which  he  grasped 
the  supreme  power  of  the  state  ;  the  rigour,  and  at  times, 
the  severity,  with  which  he  exercised  it ;  the  facility  with 
which  he  could  violate,  and  even  pour  ridicule  upon  the 
constitutional  principles  of  his  country,  trampling  upon  all 
the  laws  of  the  land,  when  they  impeded  his  progress  to- 
wards the  attainment  of  any  object  on  which  he  had  set  his 
mind,  are  certainly  a  tremendous  weight  to  be  placed  iu 
the  scale  against  his  inflexible  opposition  to  Popery,  his 
exertions  in  reforming  the  ministry  of  the  established 
church,  and  even  his  occasional  ebullitions  of  zeal  to  pro- 
mote the  interests  of  the  gospel.  There  is  but  too  much 
reason  to  fear  that,  with  him,  as  with  many  other  princes 
and  statesmen,  religion  was  made  wholly  subservient  to  his 
worldly  interests. 

And  yet,  it  would  be  difficult  to  fix  upon  a  period  when 
our  country  was  more  prosperous  at  home,  or  sustained  a 
higher  character  abroad,  than  during  his  protectorate.  For, 
not  to  speak  of  the  number  of  able  and  upright  judges  whom 
he  introduced  into  Westminster  Hall;  nor  of  the  impartial 
administration  of  justice  throughout  the  land;  nor  yet  of 
the  attention  which  he  showed  to  reform  the  national  reli- 
gion, by  advancing  men  of  learning  and  piety  in  the 
churches  and  discountenancing  those  of  an  opposite  cha- 
racter; he  certainly  contrived  to  support  his  reputation, 
both  among  his  own  subjects  and  with  foreign  nations,  in  a 
very  extraordinary  manner,  even  compelling  those  to  fear 
who  did  not  love  him.  His  name  was  terrible  throughout 
Europe,  and  "it  was  hard  to  discover,"  says  Lord  Claren- 
don, "which  dreaded  him  most,  France,  Spain,  or  the 
Netherlands,  in  all  which  places  his  friendship  was  current 


SECT.  VI.]       Proceedings  of  the  Siciss  Cantons.  321 

at  the  value  which  he  chose  to  set  upon  it.  For,  as  they 
all  sacrificed  their  honour  and  their  interests  to  his  pleasure, 
so  there  was  nothing  he  could  have  demanded  that  eitlier 
of  them  would  have  denied  liim."*  The  truth  of  this  re- 
presentation, and,  in  some  measure,  the  pertinency  of  these 
reflections,  will  appear  from  the  history  on  which  we  are 
now  about  to  enter. 

The  council  of  Zurich,  in  Switzerland,  were,  by  reason 
of  their  proximity  to  the  valleys  of  Piedmont,  the  first  who 
received  intimation  of  the  horrid  massacre  which  had  re- 
cently taken  place  tliere.  The  news  reached  them  on  the 
Lord's  day,  April  29  ; — and  such  was  the  impression  which 
it  made  upon  them,  that  the  town  council  immediately  as- 
sembled, and  issued  a  proclamation  for  a  da}'  of  fasting 
and  humiliation  throughout  all  their  territories ;  at  the 
same  time  recommending  that  collections  should  every  w  here 
be  made  for  relieving  the  wants  of  the  poor  sutlerers.  On 
the  next  day  they  drew  up  a  letter  addressed  to  the  States 
General  of  Holland,  of  which  the  following  is  a  copy. 

Most  Illustrious  Lords,  kc. 

Having  this  instant  received  the  dismal  news  of  the  la- 
mentable state  of  our  brethren  of  the  faith  in  Piedmont,  as 
you  may  see  by  the  copy  of  a  letter  now  sent,  we  thought 
ourselves  obliged  by  the  sacred  rights  of  faith,  union  and 
communion,  to  acquaint  you  therewith  ;  being  fully  assu- 
red that  you  will  be  pleased,  according  to  your  wonted 
piety  and  Christian  charily,  thoroughly  to  consider  and  la} 

*  It  is  related  of  Cardinal  Mazarine,  who  at  that  time  swayed  the 
councils  of  the  French  cabinet,  that  he  would  chanare  countenance  at 
the  very  mention  of  his  name :  and  it  passed  into  a  proverb  in  France, 
that  '•  he  was  not  so  much  afraid  of  the  devil  as  of  Oliver  (.  romwell." 
Upon  the  whole,  says  the  late  Mr.  Fox,  '•  the  character  of  Cromwell 
must  ever  stand  high  in  the  list  o{  those  who  raised  themselves  to  su- 
preme power  by  the  force  of  their  e:enius :  and  amon;^  such,  even  in 
respect  of  moral  virtue,  it  would  be  found  to  be  one  of  the  least  excep- 
tionable, if  it  had  not  been  tainted  with  that  most  odious  and  degrading 
of  all  human  rices,  hypocrisy." — History  of  James  II.  p.  18. 


323  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [ch.  vi. 

to  heart  this  "  affliction  of  Joseph."  This  persecution  is 
smoothed  over  with  a  very  fair  pretext  by  the  opposite  party, 
but  there  is  no  one  who  loves  the  Church  of  Christ,  that 
will  not  easily  be  persuaded  of  the  subtleties  and  treache- 
ries to  which  their  adversaries  alternately  have  recourse. 

Moved  by  an  ardent  sympathy,  we  earnestly  beseech  you, 
most  mighty  and  illustrious  lords,  that  you  would  lay  to 
heart  the  case  of  these  afflicted  people,  and  administer  those 
means  of  relief  which  you  may  think  conducive  thereunto ; 
not  only  by  prayer  to  the  Father  of  Mercies  for  them,  and 
by  granting  them  that  pecuniary  assistance  which  their 
miseries  loudly  call  for,  but  also  by  pacifying  their  prince 
towards  them  ;  or  at  least,  obtaining  for  them  the  liberty  to 
emigrate,  which  we  also  shall,  to  the  utmost  of  our  power, 
endeavour  to  do.  May  the  Sovereign  Lord  of  all  have 
mercy  upon  his  church  in  every  place ;  own  their  cause  ; 
and  his  Almighty  arm  avert  their  misery  and  adversities ; 
to  whose  protection  we  heartily  recommend  you.  Given, 
in  haste,  the  30th  April,  1655. 

The   Consuls  and  Senators  of  the  Protestant  Cantons  of 

Switzerland,  viz.  Zurich,  Berne,  Glaris,  Schaffhouse, 

and  Appenzel. 

About  the  20th  of  May  an  account  of  the  Duke  of  Sa- 
voy's proceedings  against  the  Waldenses  reached  England; 
and,  to  use  the  words  of  Sir  Samuel  Morland,  it  no  soon- 
er came  to  the  ears  of  the  Protector,  than  "  he  arose  like  a 
lion  out  of  his  place,"  and  by  the  most  pathetic  appeals  to 
the  Protestant  princes  upon  the  continent,  awoke  the 
whole  Christian  world,  exciting  their  hearts  to  pity  and 
commiseration.  The  providence  of  God  had  so  disposed 
events,  that  our  great  Poet  Milton  filled  the  office  of 
Latin  Secretary  to  Oliver  Cromwell  at  this  critical  junc- 
ture.*    Never  was  there  a  more  decided  enemy  to  persecu- 

*  The  office  which  Milton  filled  under  the  Protectorate  was  much  the 
same  as  that  which,  in  our  day,  is  called  "  Secretary  of  State  for 
Foreign  Affairs."    See  Dr.  Syramoas's  Life  of  Milton,  p.  319. 


SECT.  VI.]  Character  of  Milton.  323 

tion  on  account  of  religion  than  Milton.  He  appears  to 
have  been  the  first  of  our  countrymen  who  understood  the 
principles  of  toleration,  and  his  prose  writings  abound  with 
the  most  enlightened  and  liberal  sentiments.  The  sufferings 
of  the  VValdenses  touched  his  heart,  and  drew  from  his  pen 
the  following  exquisite  sonnet. 

ON  THE  LATE  MASSACRE  IN  PIEDMONT. 

Avenge,  O  Lord,  thy  slaug'hter'd  saints,  whose  bones 
Lie  scattered  on  the  Alpine  mountains  cold  ; 
Ev'n  them  who  kept  thy  trnth  so  pure  of  old, 
When  all  our  fathers  worshipt  stocks  and  stones 

Forget  not:  in  thy  book  record  their  groans 
Who  were  thy  sheep,  and  in  Iheir  ancient  fold 
Slain  by  the  bloody  Piemontese  that  rolPd 
Mother  with  infant  down  the  rocks.     Their  moans 

The  vales  redoubled  to  the  hills,  and  they 
To  heaven.     Their  niartyr'd  blood  and  ashes  sow 
O'er  all  th"  Italian  fields,  where  still  doth  sway 

The  triple  tyi-ant ;  that  from  these  may  grow 
A  hundredfold,  who  having  learned  thy  way 
Early  may  fly  the  Babylonian  wo.* 

But  this  was  a  small  portion  of  the  interest  which  he  took 
Upon   this  afl'ecting  occasion.     It  devolved  upon  him  by 


*  Dr.  Warton,  in  his  edition  of  Milton's  minor  poems,  remar-ks  upon 
this  Sonnet,  that  "  Milton's  mind,  busied  with  this  afleciing  subject, 
here  broke  forth  in  a  strain  of  poetry,  where  his  feelings  were  not  fet- 
tered by  ceremony  or  formality"  He  adds  that  "The  Protestants 
availed  themselves  of  an  opportunity  of  exposing  the  horrors  of  Pope- 
ry, by  publishing  many  sets  of  prints  of  this  unparalleled  scene  of  reli- 
gious hiihhery,  which  operated  like  Fox's  Book  of  Martyrs.  Sir  S. 
Morland,  ("romwell's  agent  for  the  valleys  of  Piedmont,  published  a 
minute  account  of  this  whole  transaction,  in  '*^  The  History  of  the  Val- 
leys of  Piedmont,  with  numerous  cuts,  in  folio,  Lond.  1658."  Among 
the  latter,  there  is  a  print  emblematical  of  the  seventh  and  eighth  lines 
of  this  Sonnet.  Morland  relates,  that  ''  A  mother  was  hurled  down  a 
mighty  rock,  with  a  little  infant  in  her  arms;  and  three  days  after  was 
found  dead,  witli  the  little  child  alive,  but  fast  clasped  between  the 
arms  of  the  dead  motlier,  which  were  cold  and  stiff,  insomuch  that 
those  who  found  them  had  much  ado  to  get  the  young  child  out."  J^Ior- 
Innffs  History,  p.  3ti3.  See  Warton's  edition  of  Milton's  Poems^and 
Translations,  with  Notes  and  Illustrations.    2d  Ed.  Lond.  1791. 


J24  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [cH.  vi. 

office  to  address  the  heads  of  the  different  Protestant  states 
in  Europe,  with  the  view  of  interesting  them  in  the  affairs 
of  the  VValdenses ;  and  his  letters  deserve  to  be  handed 
down  to  the  remotest  ages  of  the  world,  as  a  noble  instance 
of  a  benevolent  and  feeling  mind,  worthy  of  the  author  of 
Paradise  Lost.  I  shall,  therefore,  present  the  reader  with 
the  whole  of  them  in  this  place,  faithfully  translated  from 
the  Latin  originals.  They  are  in  themselves  interesting ; 
are  intimately  connected  with  the  history  of  the  Waldenses  j 
and  the  Christian  spirit  that  pervades  them,  redounds  in  the 
highest  degree  to  the  honour  of  the  writer.  Through  what 
strange  fatality  it  has  come  to  pass,  that  an  incident  which 
reflects  so  much  Ivistre  upon  the  character  of  Milton,  as  the 
writing  of  these  state-papers  certainly  does,  should  have 
been  allowed  to  pass  into  oblivion,  while  many  things  of 
minor  importance  find  a  place  in  every  memoir  of  the  poet, 
it  would  probably  be  difficult  to  give  a  more  plausible  rea- 
son for,  than  the  superior  interest  which  most  men  take  in 
the  concerns  of  this  present  life,  to  those  of  the  kingdom  of 
heaven  and  of  their  immortal  souls. 

Before  I  introduce  these  interesting  letters,  however,  to 
the  reader's  notice,  I  cannot  deny  myself  the  pleasure  of 
laying  before  him  the  character  that  has  been  given  of 
them  by  two  distinguished  writers  of  modern  date;  both  of 
them  members  of  our  established  church,  and  consequently 
not  to  be  suspected  of  any  undue  partiality  for  the  charac- 
ter or  principles  of  Milton.  The  first  to  whom  I  refer,  is 
Dr.  Thomas  Newton,  bishop  of  Bristol,  who  in  his  life  of 
our  great  poet,  prefixed  to  his  edition  of  the  Paradise  Lost, 
tells  us  that  "  the  blindness  [of  Milton]  had  not  diminished, 
but  rather  increased  the  vigour  of  his  niind;  and  his  state- 
letters  will  remain  as  authentic  memorials  of  those  times  to 
be  admired  equally  by  critics  and  politicians ;  and  those  in 
particular  about  the  suflerings  of  the  poor  Protestants  [or 
Waldenses]  in  Piedmont,  who  can  read  without  sensible 
emotion?  This  was  a  subject  he  had  very  much  at  heart, 
ag  he  was  an  utter  enemy  to  all  sorts  of  persecution ;  and 


SECT,  ri.]        Proceedings  of  the  Protectorate.  325 

among  his  sonnets  there  is  a  most  excellent  one  upon  the 
same  occasion."  Thus  far  Bishop  Newton — the  other 
writer  to  w  horn  I  alluded  is  Dr.  Charles  Symmons,  the  poet's 
last,  and  certainly  ablest,  biographer ;  who,  referring  to 
these  letters,  thus  elegantly  remarks :  "  The  hand  of  the 
Latin  Secretary  most  ably  concurred  with  the  spirit  of  the 
executive  council ;  and  during  his  continuance  in  office, 
which  was  prolonged  to  the  Restoration,  the  state-papers 
in  his  department  may  be  regarded  as  models  in  the  class 
of  diplomatic  composition.  They  speak,  indeed,  the  lan- 
guage of  energy  and  wisdom;  and  are  entitU^d  equally  to 
the  applause  of  the  scholar  and  the  statesman.  They  must 
have  impressed  foreign  states  with  a  high  opinion  of  that 
government  for  which  they  were  written,  and  in  the  service 
of  which  so  much  ability  was  engaged.  It  may  be  obser- 
ved, that  the  character  of  their  immediate  author  is  too  great 
to  be  altogether  lost  in  that  of  the  ministerial  organ ;  and 
that  in  many  of  them,  Milton  may  be  traced  in  distinct, 
though  not  in  discordant  existence  from  the  power  for  whom 
he  acts.  The  letters  which  he  wrote  in  the  Protector's 
name,  to  mediate  for  the  oppressed  Protestants  of  Pied- 
mont,* whose  sutl'erings  had  revived  the  horror  of  the 
Catholic  fitrocities  in  Ireland,  might  be  cited  in  testimony 
of  what  I  affirm.  These  official  instruments  are  faithful, 
no  doubt,  to  the  general  purposes  of  him  under  whose  au- 
thority they  were  produced  :  but  they  exhibit  also  much  of 

*  Dr.  Symmons,  in  a  note  on  this  passag^e,  remarks  that  "  Thi*  ac- 
tive and  powerful  interposition  of  the  Protector's  was  productive  of  its 
intended  effect.  The  Catholic  tyrant  desisted  from  the  slaughter  of 
his  innocent  subjects,  and  those  miserable  people  had  a  breathing  time 
from  their  calamities.  I  call  them,  as  they  are  called  in  these  official 
dispatches,  by  the  generally  known  name  of  Protestants  :  but  the  dis- 
senters from  the  Papal  church,  who  occupied  the  valleys  of  Piedmont, 
had  neither  connexion  nor  a  common  origin  with  tliose  who  were  pro- 
perly called  Protestants,  from  one  of  the  first  acts  of  their  association 
in  Germany.  TH^:  WaldejNses  asserted  a  much  more  ancient  pedi- 
gree; and  assumed  to  be  of  the  old  Roman  church  before  it  was  cor- 
rupted by  the  Papal  innovations."  See  Life  of  Milton.  2d  Edit.  1810. 
p.  317—319. 

Vol,  II.  2  U 


326  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [ch.  vi, 

the  liberal  and  benevolent  spirit  of  the  Secretary  :  their 
mirror  cannot  be  convicted  of  falsehood  or  perversion :  but 
with  unquestionable  flattery,  it  reflects  the  harsh  features  of 
the  English  usurper  so  softened  into  positive  beauty  as  to 
conciliate  our  aflection  equally  with  our  respect." 

One  of  the  first  of  Cromwell's  measures  was  to  appoint  a 
day  of  fasting  and  prayer,  to  seek  the  Lord  in  behalf  of  the 
melancholy  condition  of  this  afflicted  people;  a  public  de- 
claration of  their  state  was  also  issued,  calhng  the  inhabi- 
tants throughout  the  land  to  join  in  free  and  liberal  contri- 
butions towards  their  succour  and  support,  in  which  the 
Protector  himself  set  them  a  noble  example,  by  commencing 
the  subscription  with  a  donation  of  two  thousand  pounds 
from  his  own  private  purse.  And  that  no  time  might  be 
lost,  in  testifying  his  good  will  towards  the  Waldenses,  on 
the  23d  of  May,  Sir  S.  Morland  received  orders  to  prepare 
for  setting  ofl'  with  a  message  from  the  English  government 
to  the  Duke  of  Savoy,  beseeching  the  latter  to  recall  the 
merciless  edict  of  Gastaldo,  and  to  restore  the  remnant  of  his 
poor  distressed  subjects  to  their  homes  and  the  enjoyment  of 
their  ancient  liberties. 

On  the  2(ith  of  May,  Mr.  Morland  took  his  departure  for 
the  continent,  being  charged,  on  his  way  to  Piedmont,  with 
a  letter  from  the  Protector  to  the  French  king,  relating  to 
the  Waldenses,  in  whose  recent  murder,  as  the  reader 
will  have  already  noticed,  some  French  troops  had  been 
employed.  The  following  is  a  copy  of  the  letter  which, 
on  •  the  first  of  June,  the  English  envoy  delivered  at  La 
Fere,  where  the  king  and  court  of  France  were  then  re- 
siding. 

Most  Serene  King  ! 

The  lamentable  complaints  which  have  been  conveyed  to 
us  from  those  poor  and  afflicted  people,  who  profess  the  re- 
formed religion,  and  inhabit  the  valleys  within  the  domi- 
nions of  the  Duke  of  Savoy ;  and  who  have  of  late  been 
most  cruelly  massacred ;  together  with  the  melancholy  ti- 


SECT.  VI.]    Protector'' s  Letter  to  the  French  King.         327 

dings  we  have  received  Goncerniiig  the  plundering  and  ba- 
nishing of  others,  have  extorted  from  us  these  letters  to  your 
majesty ;  and  the  rather,  as  we  have  been  informed,  how 
truly  we  know  not,  that  this  massacre  has  been  carried  on, 
partly  by  some  troops  of  yours,  which  had  joined  themselves 
to  other  forces  belonging  to  the  Duke  of  Savoy. 

We  were  very  unwilling  to  give  any  credit  to  these  things, 
because  it  cannot  be  thought  consonant  to  the  purposes  and 
proceedings  either  of  good  princes  or  of  your  majesty's 
most  prudent  ancestors,  who  conceived  it  to  be  their  interest, 
and  not  less  conducive  to  the  peace  of  Christendom,  that 
their  Protestant  subjects  should  live  in  safety,  and  enjoy 
protection  under  their  government,  for  which  they  have 
always  been  grateful,  and  rendered  eminent  services  to  their 
sovereigns,  in  times  both  of  peace  and  war.  Similar  con- 
siderations have  hitherto  induced  the  Dukes  of  Savoy  to 
treat  their  subjects  with  equal  kindness.  Now  we  doubt  not 
but  that  your  majesty  has  so  much  influence  with  the  Duke 
of  Savoy,  that  by  your  intercession,  a  peace  may  be  pro- 
cured for  those  poor  people,  with  liberty  to  return  to  their 
native  country.  The  performance  of  this  would  be  an  act 
worthy  of  your  majesty,  and  conformable  to  the  example 
set  you  by  your  predecessors,  while  it  would,  at  the  same 
time,  set  the  minds  of  your  own  subjects  at  rest,  by  assuring 
them  that  they  need  not  fear  a  repetition  of  such  evils  among 
them;  and  also  confirm  your  confederates  and  allies,  who 
profess  the  same  religion,  in  greater  respect  and  affection 
for  your  majesty.  With  respect  to  ourselves,  any  favour 
of  this  kind  which  you  shall  grant  to  your  own  subjects, 
or  which  you  may  obtain  for  the  subjects  of  others,  will 
be  not  less  acceptable  to  us ;  indeed  it  will  be  more 
so,  than  any  other  profit  or  advantage,  among  the  many 
which  we  promise  ourselves  from  the  friendship  of  3'our 
majesty. 

OLIVER  P. 

fVestminster,  May  25,  1655. 


328  History  of  the  Christian  Church.        [cii.  vi^ 

Tlie  King  of  France  lost  no  time  in  returning  a  very 
complaisant  and  satisfactory  answer  to  this  letter,  in  v\  hicli 
he  assures  the  Protector  that  ilie  manner  in  which  his  troops 
had  been  employed  by  the  Duke  of  Savoy  or  his  ministers 
was  very  far  from  meeting  with  his  approbation — that  they 
had  been  sent  by  him  into  Italy,  to  assist  the  Duke  of 
Modena  against  the  invasion  which  the  Spaniards  had 
made  upon  his  country — that  he  had  already  expostulated 
with  the  court  of  Savoy  for  having  employed  them  in  an 
affair  of  that  nature  without  his  authority  or  command — 
and  that  he  had  sent  to  the  governor  of  his  province  of 
Dauphiny,  requesting  him  to  collect  as  many  of  the  poor 
exiled  Waldenses  as  he  could,  to  treat  them  with  gentle- 
ness, and  afford  them  every  protection  they  might  stand 
in  need  of.  He  tells  his  highness  that,  knowing,  as  he 
now  does,  how  much  he  is  affected  by  the  distress  of  these 
Waldenses,  it  gives  him  pleasure  to  think  he  has  already 
anticipated  his  wishes,  and  that  he  shall  continue  to  use  his 
influence  with  the  prince  for  their  relief  and  comfort,  and 
indeed  that  he  had  already  proceeded  so  far  as  to  pledge 
liimself  for  their  obedience  and  fidelity,  in  case  the  Duke 
of  Savoy  would  re-establish  them  in  his  dominions,  and 
that  he  had  grounds  to  hope  his  mediation  would  not  be 
rejected.  "As  to  what  remains,"  continues  his  majesty, 
"you  were  perfectly  right  in  believing  that  I  had  given  no 
orders  to  my  troops  to  execute  such  a  business  as  this — nor 
was  there  the  least  ground  to  suppose  that  I  should  contri- 
bute to  the  chastisement  of  the  subjects  of  the  Duke  of 
Savoy  who  professed  the  reformed  religion,  while  I  was 
giving  so  many  proofs  of  my  good  will  to  those  of  my  own 
subjects  of  the  same  profession,  whose  fidelity  and  zeal  for 
my  service  I  have  great  reason  to  applaud,  since  they  omit 
no  Opportunity  of  evincing  their  loyalty,  even  beyond  all 
that  can  be  imagined,  and  in  every  thing  contributing  to 
the  prosperity  and  advantage  of  my  aflairs.  So  much  in 
answer  to  your  letter;  but  I  cannot  conclude  without  re- 


SECT.  VI.]        Speech  of  Sir  Samuel  Morland.  329 

questinj?  you  to  be  assured  that,  upon  every  occasion  you 
shall  find  how  much  I  esteem  your  person,  and  that,  iVoui 
the  bottom  of  my  heart,  i  pray  the  Divine  Majesty  tliat  lie 
would  have  you  in  his  holy  keeping." 

Signed,  LOUIS. 

Having  delivered  the  Protector's  letter  to  the  King  of 
France,  and  received  the  preceding  reply  to  it,  Sir  Samuel 
Morland  proceeded  on  his  journey  towards  Savoy,  and 
upon  the  21st  of  June  arrived  at  Rivoli,  a  city  about  two 
miles  from  Turin,  where  the  duke,  who  seems  to  have 
been  a  minor,  then  was  with  his  royal  modier  and  the 
court.  Two  days  afterwards  he  obtained  an  audience,  and 
introduced  himself  in  an  elaborate  Latin  oration,  which  he 
delivered  in  the  presence  of  the  duke,  Madame  Koyal,  and 
all  the  court,  and  in  which  he  painted  in  strong  colours 
the  accounts  that  had  been  received  in  England  concerning 
the  dreadful  atrocities  that  had  been  recently  perpetrated 
upon  the  Waldenses  by  means  of  the  soldiery — describing 
"the  houses  on  fire,  which,"  says  he,  "are  yet  smoking — 
the  mangled  carcasses,  and  ground  defiled  with  blood — 
virgins  violated,  and,  after  being  treated  with  brutal  out- 
rage too  indecent  to  be  mentioned,  left  to  breathe  out  their 
last — men  a  hundred  years  old,  helpless  through  age  and 
bedridden,  burnt  in  their  beds — infants  dashed  against  the 
rocks,"  &,c.,  &;c.  "Were  all  the  t} rants,"  says  he,  "of 
all  times  and  ages  alive  again,  they  might  blush  to  find 
that,  in  comparison  of  these  things,  they  had  contrived 
nothing  that  deserved  to  be  called  barbarous  and  inhuman! 
The  very  angels  are  seized  with  horror  at  them !  Men  are 
amazed!  Heaven  itself  seems  to  be  astonished  with  the 
cries  of  dying  men,  and  the  very  earth  to  blush,  being 
discoloured  with  the  gore  of  so  many  innocent  persons," 
&,c.  Having  finished  his  harangue,  Sir  Samuel  presented 
to  the  duke  the  following  letter,  with  which  he  had  been 
charged  by  his  master  the  Lord  Protector. 


330  History  of  the  Christian  Church.         fcH.  vi. 

Most  Serene  Prince! 

We  have  received  letters  from  several  places  near  your 
dominions,  informing  us  that  the  subjects  of  your  royal 
highness,  professing  the  reformed  rehgion,  have  of  late, 
by  your  express  order  and  command,  been  required,  under 
pain  of  death  and  confiscation  of  their  estates,  to  abandon 
their  houses,  possessions,  and  dwellings,  within  three  days 
after  the  publication  of  that  order,  unless  they  would 
pledge  themselves  to  relinquish  their  religious  profession 
and  become  Catholics  within  twenty  days.  And  that 
when,  with  all  becoming  humility,  they  addressed  them- 
selves to  your  royal  highness,  petitioning  for  a  revocation 
of  that  order,  and  a  reception  to  former  favour  with  a  con- 
tinuance of  such  liberties  as  were  granted  them  by  your 
most  serene  predecessors,  a  part  of  your  army  fell  upon 
them,  most  cruelly  massacred  many,  imprisoned  others, 
banishing  the  rest  into  desert  places  and  mountains  covered 
with  snow,  where  some  hundreds  of  families  are  reduced 
to  such  extremity,  that  it  is  to  be  feared  they  will  all  mise- 
rably perish,  in  a  short  time,  with  hunger  and  cold. 

When  intelligence  was  first  brought  us  that  a  calamity 
so  awful  had  befallen  those  most  miserable  people,  it  was 
impossible  for  us  not  to  feel  the  deepest  sorrow  and  com- 
passion. For,  as  we  are,  not  only  by  the  ties  of  humanity, 
but  also  by  religious  fellowship  and  fraternal  relation, 
united  to  them,  we  conceived  we  could  neither  satisfy  our 
own  minds,  nor  discharge  our  duty  to  God,  nor  the  obli- 
gations of  brotherly  kindness  and  charity,  as  professors  of 
the  same  faith,  if,  while  deeply  sympathizing  with  our 
afflicted  brethren,  we  should  fail  to  use  every  endeavour 
that  was  within  our  reach,  to  succour  them  under  so  many 
unexpected  miseries. 

We,  in  the  first  place,  therefore,  most  earnestly  desire 
and  entreat  your  highness  that  you  would  reconsider  the 
acts  and  ordinances  of  your  most  serene  predecessors,  and 


SECT.  VI.]        Letter  to  the  Duke  of  Savoy.  331 

the  indulgences  which  were  by  them  granted  from  time 
immemorial,  and  ratified  to  their  subjects  of  the  valleys. 
In  granting  and  confirmhig  which,  as,  on  the  one  hand, 
they  unquestionably  did  that  which  in  itself  was  well 
pleasing  to  God,  who  intends  that  the  law  and  liberty  of 
conscience  shall  remain  wholly  in  his  own  power,  so,  on  the 
other,  it  cannot  be  doubted  but  that  they  had  a  respect  also 
to  the  merit  of  their  subjects,  whom  they  had  always  found 
faithful  in  war  and  obedient  in  time  of  peace.  And  as  your 
serene  highness  has  imitated  the  example  of  your  pre- 
decessors, in  all  other  things  that  have  been  so  graciously 
and  gloriously  achieved  by  them,  so  we  beseecli  you  again 
and  again  that  you  would  abrogate  this  edict,  and  any 
other  that  has  been  issued  for  the  disquieting  of  your  sub- 
jects on  account  of  their  rel'igion;  tiiat  you  would  restore 
them  to  their  native  homes  and  the  possession  of  their 
properties;  that  you  would  confirm  to  them  their  ancient 
rights  and  liberties,  cause  reparation  to  be  made  to  them 
for  the  injuries  they  have  sustained,  and  adopt  such  means 
as  may  put  an  effectual  stop  to  these  vexatious  proceedings. 
In  doing  this,  your  royal  highness  will  perform  what  is 
acceptable  to  God,  comfort  and  revive  these  miserable  and 
distressed  people,  and  give  satisfaction  to  all  your  neigh- 
bours professing  the  reformed  religion,  and  especially  to 
ourself,  who  shall  regard  your  favour  and  clemency  towards 
them  as  the  efiect  and  fruit  of  our  mediation,  which  we 
shall  consider  ourself  bound  to  requite  by  a  return  of 
every  good  office,  while  it  will  also  be  the  means  of  not 
only  laying  a  foundation  for  our  good  correspondence  and 
friendship,  but  also  of  increasing  it  between  this  common- 
wealth and  your  dominions.  And  this  we  promise  ourself 
from  your  justice  and  clemency;  whereunto  we  desire  God 
to  incline  your  heart  and  mind,  and  so  we  sincerely  pray  that 
he  would  confer  on  you  and  on  your  people  peace  and 
truth,  and  that  he  would  prosper  you  in  ail  your  affairs. 
Given  at  our  palace  at  Westminster^  May  25,  1655. 

OLIVER  P. 


332  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [ch.  vi. 

As  soon  as  the  duke  and  his  mother  had  made  themselves 
acquainted  with  the  contents  of  this  letter,  Madame  Royal 
addressed  herself  to  the  English  minister,  and  told  him 
that  "  as,  on  the  one  hand,  she  could  not  but  extremely 
applaud  the  singular  charity  and  goodness  of  his  highness, 
the  Lord  Protector,  towards  their  subjects,  whose  situation 
had  been  represented  to  him  so  exceedingly  lamentable,  as 
she  perceived  by  his  discourse  had  been  done,  so,  on  the 
other,  she  could  not  but  extremely  wonder  that  the  malice 
of  men  should  ever  proceed  so  far  as  to  clothe  such  pater- 
nal and  tender  chastisements  of  their  most  rebellious  and  in- 
solent subjects,  in  characters  so  black  and  deformed,  thereby 
to  render  them  odious  to  all  the  neighbouring  princes  and 
states  with  whom  they  were  so  anxious  to  keep  up  a  good 
understanding  and  friendship — especially  with  so  great  and 
powerful  a  prince  as  the  Lord  Protector."  She  at  the 
same  time,  gave  him  to  understand  that  "  she  was  persua- 
ded, when  he  came  to  be  more  particularly  informed  of  the 
truth  of  all  that  had  passed,  he  would  be  so  perfectly  satis- 
fied with  the  duke's  proceedings,  that  he  would  not  give  the 
least  countenance  to  his  disobedient  subjects.  However, 
for  his  highness's  sake,  they  would  not  only  freely  pardon 
their  rebellious  subjects  for  the  very  heinous  crimes  which 
they  had  committed,  but  would  also  grant  them  such  privi- 
leges and  favours  as  could  not  fail  to  give  the  protector  full 
proof  of  the  great  respect  which  they  entertained  for  his 
person  and  mediation." 

These  plausible  professions,  while  they  no  doubt  display 
the  usual  finesse  of  politicians,  yet  certainly  evince  no  or- 
dinary measure  of  respect  for  the  head  of  the  English 
government,  and  are  much  more  complaisant  than  was 
the  style  in  which  the  same  lady  had  previously  addressed 
Major  Weis,  the  deputy  from  the  Swiss  cantons.  For 
when  this  latter  gentleman  delivered  to  the  duke  a  letter 
from  the  six  Protestant  cantons  of  Switzerland  upon  the 
same  melancholy  occasion,  Madame  Royal  promptly  re- 
plied, that  they  were  not  obliged  to  give  an  account  of  their 


SECT.  VI.]      Plea  of  the  Marquis  of  Ftonessa.  333 

actions  to  any  prince  in  the  world  ;  nevertheless,  out  of  the 
respect  which  they  bore  to  his  masters  of  the  cantons,  they 
had  given  orders  to  the  Marquis  of  Pionessa  to  acquaint 
him  witli  the  truth  of  all  these  affairs. 

The  marquis,  in  consequence,  waited  upon  Major  Weis, 
and  endeavoured  to  justify  all  his  proceedings,  by  casting 
the  whole  blame  upon  the  Waldenses,  repeatedly  protesting 
that  he  never  had  the  least  design  to  force  their  consciences, 
and  that  all  die  reports  which  had  been  circulated  respect- 
ing the  massacre  and  other  Cruelties,  were  mere  forgeries. 
To  all  which  the  major  replied,  that  "  with  regard  to  the 
massacre,  it  was  a  thing  so  demonstrably  evident,  that  it 
was  impossible  either  to  conceal  or  deny  it.  And  as  to 
the  people's  right  of  habitation  in  the  places  from  wlience 
they  were  ordered  to  depart,  it  was  founded  upon  justice 
and  equity,  inasmuch  as  it  had  not  only  been  conceded  to 
them  by  Charles  Emanuel,  duke  of  Savoy,  hut  also  pur- 
chased of  his  royal  highness  for  six  thousand  ducatoons, 
which  were  actually  paid  by  them  on  that  very  account.^* 
The  marquis  told  him,  that  he  did  not  at  all  deny  the  au- 
thenticity of  the  charters  which  the  Waldenses  held,  but 
they  were  all  conditional,  and  that  the  Catholic  religion 
ought  to  have  been  freely  exercised  in  all  those  places, 
which  they  would  never  allow.  In  short,  that  their  con- 
tmual  residence  in  all  those  places  for  the  last  ninety  years, 
could  be  called  no  better  than  a  nhiety  year's  rebellion  and 
disobedience.  Such  was  the  miserable  pleas  of  this  into- 
lerant and  bloodthirsty  man. 

It  is  obvious  from  all  that  can  be  collected  of  the  temper 
and  influence  of  the  Marquis  of  Pionessa,  the  bigoted  at- 
tachment of  the  duke  and  his  mother  to  the  court  of  Rome, 
and  the  firm  hold  which  the  Catholic  clergy  had  then 
got  of  their  minds,  that  there  was  not  the  smallest  dis- 
position in  the  court  of  Savoy,  to  mitigate  their  sufl'erings, 
or  abate  the  rigorous  proceedings  which  had  hitherto  been 
going  on  against  the  Waldenses  ;  and  that  had  it  not  been 
for  the  seasonable  interference  of  the  English  envoy,  the 

Vol.  .II.  2  X 


334  History  of  the  Christian  Church.        [ch.  vi 

Swiss  deputy  would  have  made  no  impression  whatever 
upon  them.  But  let  us  now  revert  to  the  further  proceed- 
ings in  England.  Besides  the  letter  to  the  King  of  France 
and  that  to  the  Duke  of  Savoy  which  I  have  already 
given,  the  following  were  transmitted  on  the  same  oc- 
casion. 


the  lord  protector  to  the  king  of  sweden. 
Most  Serene  King, 

The  report  has,  no  doubt,  ere  this,  reached  your  domi- 
nions, of  that  most  cruel  edict  which  has  been  issued  by 
the  Duke  of  Savoy,  by  means  of  which  he  has  utterly 
ruined  his  subjects  of  the  Alps,  professing  the  reformed  re- 
ligion ;  having  given  orders  that  they  should  be  driven  out 
of  the  places  of  their  inheritance,  unless,  within  twenty 
days,  they  relinquished  their  own  and  embraced  the  Roman 
religion.  The  consequence  has  been  that,  many  hav- 
ing been  slain,  the  remnant,  plundered  and  exposed  to 
certain  destruction,  are  at  this  moment  wandering  up 
and  down  with  their  wives  and  little  ones,  through  de- 
solate mountains  of  never-wasting  snow,  ready  to  perish 
through  hunger  and  cold — nor  can  we  doubt  that  your 
majesty  is  greatly  troubled  at  these  things.  For,  though 
in  lesser  matters  they  differ  among  themselves,  yet  the  ha- 
tred of  our  adversaries  which  is  common  to  us  all,  suffi- 
ciently demonstrates  that  the  Protestant  name  and  cause  is 
one.  Nor  can  any  be  ignorant,  that  your  royal  progeni- 
tors, the  kings  of  Sweden,  have  always  made  common  cause 
with  those  of  the  reformed  religion,  bringing  their  armies 
into  Germany  to  defend  it,  without  regard  to  minute  dis- 
tinctions. 

We  have,  therefore,  thought  it  necessary  to  state  to  your 
majesty,  what  has  come  to  our  knowledge  of  the  wretched 
and  miserable  condition  of  these  poor  distressed  people, 
and  to  give  you  to  understand  the  grief  and  sorrow  with 


SECT.  VI.]    CromwelVs  Letter  to  the  King  of  Denmark.  335 

which  we  are  afflicted  on  their  behalf,  as  we  have  also  done 
to  our  other  trieiuU  and  allies  of  the  same  profession;  and 
that  we  iiave  also  conveyed  onr  sentiments  in  the  strong-st 
manner  we  could  to  the  Duke  of  Savoy,  on  the  behalf  of 
these  poor  innocent  people.  We  are  also  persuaded  that 
your  majesty,  detesting  such  inhuman  and  barbarous  mas- 
sacres, and  in  conformity  to  your  well-known  zeal  and  love 
of  religion,  has  already,  or  immediately  will,  interpose  your 
mediation,  and  intercede  with  the  Duke  of  Savoy  to  revoke 
that  cruel  edict,  and  recal  to  their  habitations  and  estates  the 
little  remnant  of  those  poor  men  that  are  yet  left  unbutchered. 
And,  certainly,  if  there  be  any  bond  of  union,  if  any  love 
or  fellowship  in  religion  is  to  be  either  believed  or  culti- 
vated, such  a  multitude  of  our  guiltless  brethren,  members 
of  the  same  body  of  Christ,  cannot  sufl'er  without  the  whole 
body  sufl'ering,  and  having  a  mutual  sympathy  with  them. 
And,  indeed,  it  is  unnecessary  to  remind  your  majesty  that 
the  principles  from  whence  these  cruelties  and  massacres 
have  proceeded,  equally  threaten  us  all.  As  your  wisdom 
and  zeal,  therefore,  will  direct  you  to  such  counsels  as  shall 
be  most  conducive  to  the  relief  and  comfort'  of  these  mise- 
rable and  disconsolate  men,  we  have  not  written  this  to 
admonish  your  majesty,  but  merely  to  convey  to  you  the 
sense  we  entertain  of  their  sufferings,  and  our  readiness  to 
communicate  with  you  in  whatever  may  tend  to  their  suc- 
cour, and  for  the  support  of  the  Protestant  interest  in  the 
world.  In  the  mean-time  we  heartily  recommend  your 
majesty  unto  God  Almighty. 

Your  majesty's  good  friend, 

OLIVER  P. 
Given  at  our  palace  at  Westminster^  May  25,  1655. 

THE     LORD     PROTECTOR     OF     ENGLAND     TO     THE    KING     OF 
DENMARK. 

Most  Serene  King, 

We  presume  your  majesty  nmst  have  heard,  ere  this,  by 
how   severe    and  merciless  an  edict,   Emanuel,   dulie   of 


336  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [ch.  ti. 

Savoy,  has,  for  the  cause  of  religion,  driven  out  of  their 
native  country,  his  suhjects  who  inhabited  the  valleys  of 
the  Alps — a  harmless  people,  who  for  many  ages  have 
been  retaining  the  purity  of  their  religious  profession ;  and 
that  very  many  of  them  being  slain,  he  has  exposed  the 
rest  naked  and  destitute,  to  all  kinds  of  mischiefs  and 
miseries  in  desolate  places;  nor  can  we  doubt  that,  as  be- 
came so  great  a  patron  and  defender  of  the  reformed 
religion,  3'ou  have  been  deeply  affected  with  sorrow  on  this 
account.  For  certainly,  agreeably  to  the  laws  of  Christi- 
anity, if  our  brethren  are  suffermg  calamities  and  misery, 
we  all  ought  to  sympathize  with  them;  and,  indeed,  if  we 
have  been  correctly  informed  of  your  prudence  and  piety, 
no  man  can  be  more  apprehensive  than  j^our  majesty,  of 
the  danger  which  this  example  portends  to  the  whole  Pro- 
testant profession. 

We  are,  therefore,  induced  to  write  you  freely,  wishing 
you  to  understand  that  we  entertain  the  same  sorrow  for 
the  calamity  of  our  most  innocent  brethren,  and  the  same 
opinion  and  judgment  concerning  the  whole  of  this  matter, 
which  we  trust  you  have.  We  have  also  written  letters  to 
the  Duke  of  Savoy,  in  which  we  have  implored  him  to 
commiserate  these  unhappy  people,  by  listening  to  their 
petitions,  and  not  permitting  that  cruel  edict  to  continue 
in  force.  And  if  your  majesty  and  the  other  princes  of 
the  reformed  religion  will  do  the  same  (which  it  is  very 
probable  you  have  already  done)  we  may  hope  that  the 
mind  of  the  most  serene  duke  may  be  softened,  and,  at 
any  rate,  that  he  will,  at  the  earnest  solicitation  of  so  many 
neighbouring  princes,  lay  aside  his  displeasure.  But  if, 
instead  of  doing  that,  he  chooses  rather  to  persist  in  his 
purpose,  we  declare  that,  assisted  by  your  majesty,  and  the 
rest  of  our  allies  of  the  reformed  religion,  we  are  prepared 
to  have  recourse  to  such  measures  as  may,  to  the  utmost 
of  our  power,  relieve  the  distress,  and  provide  for  the 
safety  and  the  liberty  of  so  many  poor  afflicted  people. 


SECT.  VI.]    CromwelVs  Letter  to  the  United  Provinces.    33T 

III  the  mean-time  we  pray  God  to  bless  and  prosper  your 
majesty. 

Your  majesty's  good  friend, 

OLIVER  P. 

Given  at  our  palace  of  Westminster,  the day  of  May, 

Anno  Dom.  1655. 

TO    THE     HIGH     AND    MIGHTY    I.ORDS    OF    THE     UNITED    PRO- 
VINCES. 

High  and  mighty  Lords  ! 

You  have,  no  doubt,  ere  tliis,  been  apprised,  by  means 
of  various  expresses  and  advices  from  the  neighbouring 
states,  of  the  recent  edict  of  the  Duke  of  Savoy  against  his 
subjects  of  the  valleys  of  Lucerne,  Angrogne,  and  other 
parts  of  his  dominions,  who  have  long  professed  the  ortho- 
dox faith — by  which  edict,  they  were  enjoined  to  quit  their 
dwellings,  stript  of  all  their  possessions,  unless  in  twenty 
days  they  embraced  the  Roman  religion.  You  are  not 
ignorant  of  the  rigour  with  which,  by  virtue  of  that  edict, 
they  have  proceeded  against  men  both  inofl'ensive  and 
helpless,  and  (which  most  nearly  touches  us)  those  who 
are  our  brethren  in  Christ,  multitudes  of  them  having  been 
murdered  by  a  party  of  soldiers  sent  against  them,  the 
rest  plundered  and  driven  out  of  their  houses,  insomuch 
that  they  are  forced  to  wander  about,  with  their  w  ives  and 
children,  in  desolate  mountains,  exposed  to  the  continual 
miseries  of  cold  and  hunger.  Of  your  distress,  and  the 
sense  you  entertain  of  our  brethren's  calamity,  we  can  form 
some  apprehension  from  our  own  feelings.  For,  united  as 
we  are  by  the  bond  of  religious  friendship,  we  cannot  but 
be  affected  by  so  heavy  an  oppression  of  our  brethren. 
Your  lordships  have  given  abundant  proof  of  your  kind- 
ness towards  the  professors  of  the  reformed  religion  wher- 
ever scattered  and  oppressed,  in  the  most  difficult  and 
adverse  times  of  the  churches;  and,  for  our  own  part,  we 


338  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [ch.  vi. 

had  rather  be  found  wanting  in  an}'  thing,  than  in  our  zeal 
and  afi'ection  towards  our  bretlnen  who  are  suffering  for 
the  cause  of  religion,  preferring,  as  we  do,  the  peace  and 
prosperity  of  the  churches,  to  our  own  ease  and  safet}'. 

We  have,  on  this  account,  written  to  the  Duke  of  Savoy, 
entreating  him  to  entertain  a  more  favourable  regard  to- 
wards those  harmless  men,  his  suppliants  and  subjects;  to 
restore  to  them  their  houses  and  property,  and  grant  them 
their  ancient  religious  liberties,  as  we  have  also  done  to  the 
King  of  France,  requesting  him  to  intercede  with  the  said 
duke  in  their  behalf.  We  have  also  written  to  other  princes 
and  states  of  the  Protestant  profession,  as  well  as  your- 
selves, conceiving  this  to  be  a  common  cause,  that  they 
would  unite  with  us  in  this  intercession.  For  if  an  example 
so  evil  as  that  is,  should  come  to  be  followed,  which  seems 
to  be  the  intention  of  those  who  contrived  it,  we  need  not 
apprise  you  of  tlie  danger  to  which  the  Protestant  faith 
must  be  thereby  reduced.  And  if  the  duke  can  be  per- 
suaded and  prevailed  upon  by  our  joint  entreaties,  it  will 
surely  be  a  happy  and  satisfactory  remuneration  of  all  the 
labour  we  have  taken  therein.  But  if,  on  the  other  hand, 
he  shall  continue  firmly  resolved  utterly  to  destroy,  and 
drive  to  a  state  of  distraction,  those  men,  among  whom  our 
religion  was  either  planted  by  the  first  preachers  of  the 
gospel,  and  so  maintained  in  its  purity  from  age  to  age,  or 
else  reformed  and  restored  to  its  primitive  purity  more  early 
than  among  many  other  nations;  we  hereby  declare  our- 
selves ready  to  advise,  in  common  with  you,  and  the  rest 
of  our  brethren  and  allies  of  the  reformed  religion,  by 
what  means  we  may  most  conveniently  provide  for  the 
preservation  and  comfort  of  those  distressed  people. 

OLIVER  P. 

,    Palace  of  Westminster,  May  25,  1G55, 


SECT.  VI.]   CromwelVs  letter  to  the  Sioiss  Cantons.         339 

THE  LORD  PROTECTOR  TO  THE  SWISS  CANTONS. 

Most  Noble  Lords  ! 

The  calamity  which  has  lately  befallen  those  people  in 
the  Alps,  who  are  of  the  same  religious  profession  as  our- 
selves, must  necessarily  have  come  to  your  knowledge  be- 
fore it  did  to  ours."  They  were  required  by  an  edict  of 
the  Duke  of  Savoy,  under  whose  dominion  they  were,  to 
forsake  their  native  country,  unless  they  would,  in  three 
days  give  assurance  that  they  would  embrace  the  Roman 
religion.  Nor  was  that  all,  for  they  were  immediately  af- 
terwards assaulted  by  force  of  arms ;  numbers  of  them 
put  to  death,  and  others  driven  into  banishment,  who  are 
now  wandering  in  a  state  of  wretchedness,  with  their  wives 
and  children,  over  desert  mountains  covered  with  snow, 
without  house  or  shelter,  in  want  and  nakedness,  ready  to 
perish  with  cold  and  hunger.  Nor  can  we  doubt  but  that, 
as  soon  as  the  report  of  these  things  came  to  your  ears,  a 
calamity  such  as  this  must  have  affected  you,  as  sensibl}'^  as 
it  did  ourself ;  and  perhaps  more  so,  in  as  much  as  the 
proximity  of  your  situation  must  have  made  your  appre- 
hensions of  their  misery  more  lively ;  for  we  very  well 
know  your  singular  zeal  for  the  orthodox  faith,  as  well  as 
your  great  constancy  in  retaining,  and  your  fortitude  in 
defending  the  profession  of  it. 

Seeing  then  that,  by  the  endearing  ties  of  religious  fel- 
lowship, we  are  brethren,  or  rather  one  body  with  these 
afflicted  men — of  which  body  no  one  member  can  suffer, 
but  all  the  fellow-members  must  suffer  with  it ;  we  thought 
proper  to  write  to  you,  and  to  signify  how  much  we  con- 
sidered it  to  be  the  common  interest  of  us  all  to  assist  and 
comfort  our  exiled  and  disconsolate  brethren,  by  such 
means  as  shall  be  thought  proper  and  suitable,  and  thereby 
make  provision  both  for  removing  the  present  evils,  pre- 
venting their  accumulation,  and  the  danger  to  which  we 
are  exposed  by  the  example  and  effects  of  this  act.     We 


340  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [ch.  vi. 

have  consequently  written  letters  to  the  Duke  of  Savoy,  in- 
treating  hiin  to  deal  more  gently  with  his  faithful  subjects, 
and  restore  them  to  their  property  and  native  countries 
We  trust  that  he  will  be  prevailed  upon  by  our,  or  rather 
by  the  joint  entreaties  of  us  all,  and  that  he  will  cheerfully 
grant  what  we  so  anxiously  desire.  But  should  it  turn 
out  that  he  is  differently  minded,  we  are  ready  to  advise 
with  you  about  such  means  as  may  be  most  conducive  to 
the  redress  and  relief  of  these  poor  innocent  men,  our  dear 
brethren  in  Christ,  who  groan  under  so  many  injuries  and 
oppressions ;  and  which  may  preserve  them  from  a  most 
certain  and  unmerited  destruction,  and  whose  safety  and 
preservation,  from  your  well  known  piety,  we  are  persua- 
ded, lies  very  near  your  hearts. 

OLIVER  P. 
Westminster,  May  25,  1655. 

Oliver,  Protector  of  the  Republic  of  England,  tq 
THE  Most  Serene  Prince  of  Transylvania. 

Most  Serene  Prince  ! 

Your  letters  of  the  16th  of  November,  1654,  have  com- 
municated to  us  the  pleasing  intelligence  of  the  extraordi- 
nary good  will  and  affection  which  you  bear  towards  us, 
and  your  ambassador,  who  delivered  those  letters  to  us  has 
more  fully  declared  the  desire  which  you  have  to  contract 
an  alliance  and  friendship  with  us. 

For  our  own  part,  we  certainly  do  not  a  little  rejoice  in 
the  opportunity  which  is  now  afforded  us  of  publicly  avow- 
ing the  cordial  esteem  which  we  have  for  your  highness, 
and  how  much  we  value  your  person.  But  after  all  that 
public  rumour  had  conveyed  to  us  of  your  meritorious  ex- 
ertions and  indefatigable  labours  undertaken  in  behalf  of 
the  Christian  republic  ;  and  learning,  as  we  now  do,  by 
letters  from  yourself,  imparting  to  us,  in  the  most  friendly 
manner,  what  you  have  further  in  contemplation  to  do  for 
promoting  the  Christian  interest,  we  could  not  but  consider 


SECT.  VI.}     Letter  to  the  Prince  of  Transylvania.         341 

it  as  an  abundant  occasion  of  joy  and  satisfaction,  to  hear 
that  God  had  raised  up  to  himself,  in  those  remote  reg^ions, 
so  powerful  and  renowned  a  minister  of  his  glory  and  provi- 
dence ;  and  that  this  great  miiiister  of  Heaven,  so  famed 
for  his  courage  and  success,  should  wish  to  be  associated 
with  us  in  the  common  defence  of  the  Protestant  religion, 
which  is  at  this  time  so  wickedly  assailed  in  word  and  deed. 
Nor  can  we  doubt  that  God,  who  has  inspired  us  both, 
thouffh  separated  from  each  other  b}'  many  intervening  cli- 
mates, with  similar  desires  and  purposes  of  defending  the 
orthodox  rehgion,  will  be  our  guide,  and  point  us  to  the 
ways  and  means  by  which  we  may  successfully  promote 
our  own  interests  and  those  of  the  other  reformed  countries, 
provided  we  watch  the  opportunities  of  so  doing  which 
God  shall  put  into  our  hajids,  and  be  not  wanting  to  our- 
selves in  embracing  them. 

In  the  mean-time,  we  cannot  but  with  extreme  and  heart- 
rending sorrow  put  your  highness  in  mind,  how  unmerci- 
fully the  Duke  of  Savoy  has  persecuted  his  own  subjects, 
professing  the  orthodox  faith,  in  certain  valleys  at  the  feet 
of  the  Alps  ;  whom  he  has,  by  a  most  severe, edict,  not  only 
compelled,  at  least  such  of  them  as  refuse  to  turn  Catholics, 
to  forsake  their  native  habitations,  goods,  and  estates,  but 
has  also  fallen  upon  them  with  his  army,  inhumanly  put  se- 
veral to  the  sword,  barbarously  tormenting  others  to  death, 
and  driving  die  greater  part  of  them  to  the  mountains, 
there  to  perish  through  cold  and  hunger,  exposing  their 
houses  to  the  fury,  and  their  goods  to  the  plunder,  of  his 
executioners.  These  things,  as  they  have  already  been 
reported  to  your  highness,  so  we  readily  persuade  our- 
selves, that  such  cruelty  cannot  but  be  grievously  displeas- 
ing to  your  ears,  and  that  you  will  not  be  found  wanting 
to  afford  your  relief  and  succour  to  those  wretched  suf- 
ferers, if,  indeed,  any  of  them  survive  their  multiplied 
slaughters  and  calamities. 

For  our  part,  we  have  written  to  the  Duke  of  Savoy 
beseeching  him  to  remove  the  fierceness  of  his  anger  from 

Vol.  if.  2   Y 


342  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [cH.  vi, 

his  subjects.  We  have  also  written  to  the  King  of  France 
that  he  would  do  the  same  ;  and,  finally,  we  have  addressed 
the  princes  of  the  reformed  relig'ion  with  the  view  of  ma- 
king them  acquainted  with  our  sentiments  respecting  this 
fierce  and  savage  piece  of  cruelty,  which  though  it  has  com- 
menced with  those  poor  and  helpless  people,  threatens 
eventually  all  that  profess  the  same  religion  ;  and,  conse- 
quently, imposes  upon  all  the  greater  necessity  of  provi- 
ding for  themselves  in  general,  and  consulting  the  common 
safety  ;  which  is  the  course  we  shall  always  follow  as  God 
shall  be  pleased  to  direct  us.  We  beg  your  highness  to 
be  assured  of  this,  as  well  as  of  our  sincere  afiection  for 
your  serenity,  which  induces  us  to  wish  all  possible  pros- 
perity and  success  to  your  aflairs,  and  a  happy  issue  of  all 
your  enterprises  and  endeavours,  in  asserting  the  liberty  of 
the  gospel  and  its  worshippers. 
Whitehall,  May,  1655. 

Oliver,  Protector  of  the  Commonwealth  of  En- 
gland, TO  THE  Most  Noble,  the  Consuls  and  Se- 
nators OF  Geneva. 

We  should  ere  this  have  communicated  to  3'^our  lordships 
our  excessive  sorrow  for  the  severe  and  unheard  of  calami- 
ties which  have  befallen  the  Protestants  inhabiting  the  val- 
leys of  Piedmont  whom  the  Duke  of  Savoy  persecutes  with 
so  much  cruelty,  had  we  not  made  it  our  business  that  you 
should,  at  the  same  time,  understand  that  we  are  not  only 
affected  by  the  enormity  of  their  sufferings,  but  are  exerting 
our  utmost  efforts  to  relieve  and  comfort  them  under  their 
distresses.  For  this  purpose  we  have  taken  measures  to 
have  a  general  collection  throughout  the  whole  of  this  re- 
public, which,  upon  good  grounds,  we  expect  will  be  such 
as  shall  demonstrate  the  affection  of  this  nation  towards 
their  brethren  labouring  under  the  burthen  of  such  inhuman 
proceedings ;  and  that  as  the  con)munion  of  religion  is 
the  same  between    both  people,   so   the    sense  of  their  ca- 


SECT.  VI.]       Letter  to  the  Senators  of  Geneva.  343 

lamities  is  no  less  the  same.  In  the  mean-time,  while  the 
collections  of  the  money  are  going;  forwards,  which  it  may 
require  some  time  to  finish,  and  as  the  wants  and  necessities 
of  those  distressed  people  will  not  well  admit  of  delay,  we 
have  thought  it  proper  to  remit  you  before  hand  two  thou- 
sand pounds  sterling  with  all  possible  speed,  to  be  distribu- 
ted among  such  as  shall  be  considered  most  necessitous,  and 
that  more  particularly  require  present  succour  and  relief. 

And  as  we  are  not  ignorant  how  deeply  the  miseries  and 
wrongs  of  those  very  harmless  people  have  affected  your- 
selves, and  that  you  will  not  grudge  any  labour  or  pains 
which  may  contribute  to  their  relief,  we  make  no  scruple  to 
commit  the  distribution  of  this  sum  of  money  to  your  care, 
and  to  give  you  this  further  trouble,  that  according  to  your 
wonted  piety  and  prudence,  you  would  take  care  that  the 
said  money  be  distributed  equally  to  the  most  necessitous, 
to  the  end  that,  though  the  sum  be  small,  there  ma}-,  never- 
theless, be  something  to  refresh  and  revive  the  most  in- 
digent and  needy,  till  we  can  afford  them  a  more  plentiful 
supply. 

And  thus,  not  doubting  but  that  you  will  take  in  good 
part  the  trouble  imposed  upon  you,  we  beseech  Almighty 
God  to  stir  up  the  hearts  of  all  his  people  professing  the  or- 
thodox faith,  to  resolve  upon  the  common  defence  of  them- 
selves, and  their  mutual  assistance  of  each  other,  against 
their  inveterate  and  most  implacable  enemies !  in  doing 
which  we  should  rejoice  that  our  helping  hand  might  be  any 
way  serviceable  to  the  church. 

Farewell. 

June  8,  1655. 

P.  S.  £1,500  of  the  aforesaid  £2,000  will  be  remitted 
by  Gerard  Hench,  from  Paris,  and  the  other  £500  will  be 
taken  care  of  b}^  letters  from  the  Lord  Stoup. 

These  letters  abundantly  prove  the  firm  hold  which  the 
case  of  the  Waldenses  had  taken  on  the  mind  of  the  En- 


344  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [cH.  vi. 

glish  government,  and  the  \\ve\y  interest  which  the  latter  so 
honourably  took  in  ti)eir  affairs.  I  cannot,  however,  dis- 
miss this  part  of  the  subject  without  laying  before  the  read- 
er one  letter  more,  not  only  because  it  is  intimately  connect- 
ed with  the  narrative,  but  because  it  exhibits  a  pleasing  spe- 
cimen of  the  liberal  and  enlightened  policy  of  the  protector's 
councils.  It  was  written  in  the  following  year,  and  address- 
ed to  the  king  of  Sweden,  who  was,  at  that  moment,  threat- 
ening the  States  of  Holland  with  a  war. 

Oliver,  Protector  of  the  Commonwealth  of  En- 
GLANn,  h,c.,  TO  THE  MosT  Serene  Prince,  Charles 
Gustavus,  King  of  the  Swedes,  Goths,  and  Van- 
dals, Sic. 

Most  Serene  King,  our  dearest  friend  and  confe- 
derate. 

As  we  are  fully  assured  of  your  majesty's  concurrence 
both  in  thoughts  and  councils  for  the  defence  of  the  Protes- 
tant faith  against  its  enemies,  which  never  was  more  danger- 
ously assailed  than  at  present;  though  we  cannot  but  rejoice 
at  your  successful  enterprises  and  the  daily  tidings  of  your 
victories,  yet  we  cannot,  on  the  other  hand,  but  be  as  deep- 
ly concerned  at  one  thing  which  disturbs  and  interrupts  our 
joy  ;  we  refer  to  the  sad  news  which  is  intermingled  with  so 
much  welcome  tidings,  that  the  ancient  friendship  between 
your  majesty  and  the  States  of  the  United  Provinces  pre- 
sents a  gloomy  aspect,  and  that  the  mischief  is  exasperated 
to  that  pitch,  particularly  in  the  Baltic  Sea,  as  seems  to 
forebode  an  unhappy  rupture  !  We  acknowledge  ourselves 
ignorant  of  the  causes ;  but  we  too  easily  foresee  that  the 
events,  which  God  avert,  will  be  fatal  to  the  interests  of  the 
Protestants.  And,  therefore,  both  out  of  regard  to  that 
most  intimate  alliance  now  subsisting  between  us  and  your 
majest}',  and  also  from  that  affection  and  love  to  the  re- 
formed religion,  by  which  we  ought  all  of  us  chiefly  to  be 


SECT.  VI.]   CromweWs  letter  to  the  King  of  Sweden.       345 

swayed,  we  consider  it  our  duty,  as  we  liave  most  earnestly 
exhorted  the  States  of  the  United  Provinces  to  peace  and 
moderation,  so  now  to  persuade  your  majesty  to  the  same. 
The  Protestants  have  enemies  every  where  enough  and  to 
spare,  inflamed  with  inexorable  revenge :  nor  were  they  ever 
known  to  have  conspired  niore  perniciously  to  our  destruc- 
tion— witness  the  valleys  of  Piedmont  still  reeking  with  the 
blood  and  slaug^hter  of  the  miserable — witness  Austria,  late- 
ly embroiled  with  the  emperor's  edicts  and  proscriptions — 
witness  Sw  itzerland.  But  it  is  needless  to  expatiate  at  large 
in  recalling:  the  bitter  lamentations  and  recollections  of  so 
many  calamities !  Who  so  ignorant  as  not  to  know  that 
the  councils  of  the  Spaniards  and  of  the  Roman  pontiffs, 
for  these  two  years  past,  have  filled  all  these  places  with 
conflagrations,  murders,  and  persecutions  of  the  orthodox? 
But,  if  to  these  mischiefs  there  should  happen  the  still 
greater  evil  of  dissension  among  the  Protestants  themselves, 
who  are  brethren,  and  more  especially  between  two  power- 
ful states,  on  whose  courage,  wealth,  and  fortituue,  so  far 
as  human  strength  may  be  relied  on,  the  support  and  hope 
of  all  the  reformed  churches  depend,  the  Protestant  religion 
must  necessarily  be  in  great  jeopardy,  if  not  upon  the  brink 
of  destruction.  On  the  other  hand,  if  the  whole  Protestant 
name  would  but  preserve  perpetual  peace  among  themselves, 
cultivating  that  brotherly  union  which  becomes  their  pro- 
fession, there  would  be  no  occasion  to  fear  what  all  the  ar- 
tifices and  power  of  our  enemies  could  do  to  hurt  us,  which 
our  fraternal  concord  and  harmony  alone  would  easily  repel 
and  frustrate.  And,  therefore,  we  most  earnestly  request 
and  beseech  your  majesty  to  foster  in  your  bosom  propi- 
tious thoughts  of  peace,  and  a  disposition  of  mind  to  repair 
the  breaches  of  your  ancient  friendship  with  the  United 
Provinces,  if  in  any  part  it  may  have  accidentally  sufiiered 
tlie  decays  of  mistakes  and  misconstructions. 

If  there  be  any  thing  on  which  our  labour,  our  fidelity 
and  diligence  may  be  useful  towards  efiecting  a  compro- 
mise, we  tender  and  shall  cheerfully  devote  all  to  your  ser- 


346  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [ch.  vi. 

vice.  And  may  the  God  of  heaven  favour  and  prosper 
your  noble  and  pious  resolutions,  which  together  with  all 
felicity  and  a  course  of  perpetual  victory,  we  cordially 
wish  to  your  majesty. 

Your  majesty's  most  affectionate, 

OLIVER,  Protector,  he.  he. 
From  our  palace,  Westminster,  August,  1656. 

It  has  been  already  noticed  that,  upon  the  very  first  an- 
nunciation of  the  distresses  of  the  Waldenses,  the  Protector 
issued  a  proclamation  for  a  day  of  national  humiliation 
throughout  all  England  and  Wales  ;  commanding,  at  the 
same  time,  that  collections  should  be  made  in  all  the 
churches  and  chapels  for  their  relief;  and  a  committee, 
consisting  of  about  forty  of  the  first  of  the  nobility,  gentry, 
and  clergy,  was  formed  for  conducting  it.  Sir  Thomas 
Viner,  and  Sir  Christopher  Pack,  aldermen  of  London, 
being  appointed  treasurers.  In  no  long  time  the  sum  total 
of  the   collections  amounted  to  thirty-eight  thousand, 

TWO  HUNDRED   AND  FORTY-ONE  POUNDS  TEN  SHILLINGS  AND 

SIX  PENCE,*  which,  if  we  take  into  account  the  relative 
value  of  money  between  that  and  the  present  time,  must 
certainly  give  us  a  very  favourable  impression  of  the  libe- 
rality of  our  forefathers.  Nor  is  it  less  gratifying  to  wit- 
ness such  a  proof  of  the  humane  and  benevolent  spirit 
which,  as  Protestants,  our  countrymen  evinced  on  an  occa- 
sion that  so  justly  called  for  it. 

For  the  satisfaction  of  the  community  at  large,  the  pro- 
lector  and  his  council  ordered  a  narrative  to  be  published, 
explanatory  of  their  proceedings,  with  a  very  minute  and 
circumstantial  account  of  the  sums  contributed,  specifying 
the- counties,  the  number  of  parishes  in  each,  with  the  pre- 
cise amount  of  their  contributions,  as  well  as  of  the  applica- 

*  Of  this  amount  the  cities  of  London  and  Westminster  contributed 
the  sum  of  £9,384  6  11,  exclusive  of  the  £2,000  given  by  the  pro- 
tector. 


SECT.  VI.]  CromwelVs  Declaration,  &fc.  347 

tion  that  was  made  of  the  same,  through  the  medium  of 
Sir  Samuel  Moiland,  who,  to  carry  into  effect  the  liberality 
of  the  EngUsh  people,  was  ordered  to  take  up  his  residence 
at  Geneva,  a  city  contiguous  to  the  valleys  of  Piedmont, 
where  he  continued  about  three  years. 

The  whole  of  the  document  referred  to  is  interesting — 
but  occupying,  as  it  does,  twelve  pages  in  folio,  its  entire 
insertion  in  this  place  is  impracticable.  I  shall,  however, 
gratify  the  reader  with  the  introductory  paragraph. 

"  His  highness,  the  Lord  Protector,  having  received  in- 
telligence about  the  month  of  May,  1655,  that  many  hun- 
dreds of  the  poor  Protestants  in  the  valleys  of  Piedmont 
(otherwise  known  by  the  name  of  Waldenses)  within  the 
territories  of  the  Duke  of  Savoy,  were  most  cruelly  mas- 
sacred by  a  Popish  party ;  and  having  upon  his  spirit  a 
deep  sense  of  their  calamities,  which  were  occasioned  by 
their  faithful  adherence  to  the  profession  of  the  reformed 
religion,  was  pleased,  not  only  to  mediate,  by  most  pathetic 
letters,  in  their  behalf,  to  the  King  of  France  and  Duke  of 
Savoy,  but  did  also  graciously  invite  the  people  of  this 
nation  to  seek  the  Lord  by  prayer  and  humiliation,  in  re- 
ference to  their  then  sad  condition  and  future  relief;  and 
from  a  confidence  that  the  good  people  of  this  nation  would 
be  sensibly  touched  '  with  the  afflictions  of  Joseph,'  and 
in  that  day  of  their  brethren's  trouble  manifest  a  sensible 
resentment  of,  and  sympathy  with,  the  sufferings  of  their 
fellow-members,  professors  of  the  same  faith ;  did  forthwith 
publish  a  Declaration,  expressing  his  earnest  desire  that 
the  people  might  be  stirred  up  to  a  free  and  liberal  contri- 
bution towards  their  succour  and  support :  for  the  manage- 
ment of  which  collection,  certain  instructions  were  also 
ageed  upon,  and  annexed  to  the  said  declaration  :  and  for 
the  more  effectually  promoiing  of  the  work,  his  highness 
appointed  a  committee,  consisting  of  persons  of  known 
honour,  fidelity,  and  integrity,  to  consider  and  advise,  from 
time  to  time,  how  the  money  that  should  be  thereupon  rais- 
ed, might  be  employed  most  advantageously,  for  the  cer- 


348  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [ch.  ri. 

tain  supply  of  those  poor  distressed  members  of  Christ, 
corresponding  with  the  real  intentions  of  the  givers ; 
amongst  whom  likewise  there  were  two  select  persons  of 
very  considerable  estate  and  reputation,  appointed  to  be 
treasurers  for  the  receiving  in  of  the  said  moneys,  whose 
names,  together  with  the  number  and  names  of  the  afore- 
said committee,  for  the  reader's  better  satisfaction,  are 
here  inserted,"  &;c. 

It  must  afford  pleasure  to  every  benevolent  mind  to  re- 
flect upon  the  interest  that  was  now  taken  in  the  fate  of  the 
Waldenses  by  all  the  Protestant  states  of  Europe ;  at  the 
same  time  that  it  gives  us  a  satisfactory  pledge  of  the  high 
estimation  in  which  that  particular  class  of  Christians  was 
universally  held.  The  Elector  Palatine  of  the  Rhine,  the 
Elector  of  Brandenburgh,  the  Duke  of  Wirtemburgh,  and 
almost  every  Protestant  prince  and  state  upon  the  conti- 
nent, wrote  letters  to  the  Duke  of  Savoy,  declaring  their 
abhorrence  of  that  sanguinary  massacre,  and  interceding 
for  his  persecuted  subjects.  Sir  Samuel  Morland  has  pre- 
served faithful  copies  of  most  of  these  letters ;  but  none  of 
them  is  more  pointed  or  deserving  of  the  reader's  attention 
than  that  of  the  Landgrave  of  Hesse,  and  as  it  is  concise. 
I  here  subjoin  it. 

Sir! 

Having  lately  received  the  news  of  that  cruel  massacre, 
committed  upon  the  Protestants,  who  are  commonly 
known  by  the  name  of  Waldenses,  inhabiting  your  valleys 
of  Angrogne  and  Pragela,  in  Piedmont,  I  could  not  easily 
be  brought  at  first  to  give  credit  to  such  a  dismal  story,  as 
not  being  once  able  to  imagine,  that  even  their  adversaries 
had  been  so  audacious  as  to  exercise  such  barbarous  cruel- 
ties upon  poor  innocent  people,  who  lived  peaceably  under 
the  government  of  your  highness,  and  in  entire  obedience, 
without  giving  the  least  offence  to  any,  and  who,  for  so 
long  a  time  together,  have  obtained  protection  and  security 
froTO  both  you  and  your  ancestors.     And,  indeed,  I  so 


SECT.  VI.]  Landgrave  of  Hesse  to  the  Duke  of  Savoif.     34(i 

much  the  less  imagined  this,  from  the  persuasion  I  had, 
that  their  enemies  had  learned,  by  the  experience  of  so 
many  ages,  that  persecutions  and  butcheries  are  not  the 
means  to  suppress  our  religion,  but  rather  to  preserve  and 
spread  the  same  abroad.  But  this  news  having  been  writ- 
ten and  confirmed  to  me  from  so  many  places,  and  that 
with  circumstances  so  wholly  deplorable,  as  that  I  could  no 
longer  remain  in  doubt,  it  has  seized  me  with  horror;  and, 
consequently,  being  moved  with  pity  and  compassion  to- 
wards so  many  thousands  of  souls  in  such  extreme  distresSf 
who  have  been  most  cruelly  robbed  and  spoiled  of  their 
lives  and  estates,  by  the  cruelty  of  their  furious  and  sworn 
enemies,  and  this  without  distinction  either  of  sex  or  age, 
I  have  thought  it  my  duty  as  a  Christian  prince,  interested 
in  the  preservation  of  those  of  my  religion,  to  write  this 
present  letter  to  your  highness,  and  to  beseech  you  not  only 
to  command  and  allow  that  the  remainder  of  those  poor 
innocent  people  who  have  escaped  the  violence  of  their  per- 
secutors, be  established  in  their  lands,  goods,  and  posses- 
sions, which  are  yet  left  them  after  this  great  desolation,  but 
also  that  they  may  find  the  effects  of  this  powerful  protect 
tion  ;  and  that  you  will  be  pleased,  for  that  purpose  hence- 
forward to  favour  them,  by  patiently  hearing  their  com- 
plaints, and  taking  cognizance  of  them  yourself,  as  a  good 
and  righteous  prince,  from  wham  they  ought  to  expect  all 
the  effects  of  justice,  clemency,  and  bounty  :  whereas  those 
who  term  themselves  "  of  the  congregation  for  the  propa- 
gation of  the  faith,  and  for  the  extirpation  of  heretics,"  are 
their  declared  enemies;  and  instead  of  turning  souls  to 
righteousness  by  "  the  s\?ord  of  the  word,"  have  employed 
the  temporal  sword,  the  fire,  and  the  rope,  and  all  the  bar- 
barous cruelties  which  outrageous  men  could  possibly  in- 
vent for  (tormenting)  the  bodies  of  those  poor  creatures, 
and  to  destroy  them  from  off  the  face  of  the  earth.  I  most 
earnestly  beseech  your  highness  to  grant  the  aforesaid  re- 
quests, and  to  be  assured  of  my  inviolable  afiection  for  your 
interests  and  service^  and  that  I  shall  account  it  a  happi- 
Vol.  11.  2  Z 


ooO  Historij  of  the  Christian  Church.         [ch.  vi. 

iicss  to  have  an  ojjportunity  of  giving  you  real  testimonies 
of  the  same  ;  as  being,  &ic. 

William,  Landgrave  of  Hesse  Cassel. 
July  23,  1655. 

The  annals  of  Europe  scarcely  afford  an  instance  of  such 
a  state  of  cordial  harmony  and  mutual  consent,  among  the 
difl'erent  states  and  nations  in  any  affair  of  religion  as,  at 
tliis  juncture,  appeared  in  behalf  of  the  poor  Waldenses. 
Their  case  was  clearly  understood,  and  generally  and 
deeply  felt.  It  was  purely  a  case  of  persecution  for  con- 
science' sake;  and  taking  all  the  circumstances  into  ac- 
count, it  was  an  instance  of  such  atrocious  and  brutal 
outrage,  as  the  world  had  rarely  seen  paralleled.  It  came 
home  to  the  breasts  of  all  the  Protestants  in  Europe,  and 
they  took  a  lively  interest  in  it.  Men's  expectations  were 
raised  to  a  very  high  pitch,  and  their  attention  fixed  upon 
the  Protestant  princes,  anxiousl}'  waiting  to  see  whether 
they  would  tamely  put  up  with  such  an  open  and  diabolical 
attack  upon  their  general  cause,  for  such  they  regarded 
this;  or  whether  by  a  joint  co-operation  of  power  and 
influence  they  would  at  once  relieve  and  re-establish  their 
distressed  friends. 

At  this  eventful  moment  the  Swiss  Cantons,  who  cer- 
tainly lay  the  most  contiguous  to  the  valleys  of  Piedmont, 
finding  that  they  were  ably  supported  by  all  the  Protestant 
states  of  Europe,  undertook  to  mediate  with  the  Duke  of 
Savoy  in  behalf  of  the  exiled  Waldenses,  and  sent  four 
of  their  leading  men  as  commissioners  to  the  court  of  the 
latter,  authorized  with  powers  to  negotiate  a  treaty  of  ac- 
commodation ;  and  the  rest  of  the  European  princes  had 
such  confidence  in  them,  that  they  unanimously  agreed  to 
relinquish  the  afi'air  into  their  hands.  The  names  of  these 
commissioners  were,  Solomon  Hirtzel,  Charles  von  Bon- 
stetten,  Benedict  Socin,  and  James  Stockar. 

It  would  be  uninteresting  and  tiresome  to  the  reader,  to 
trace  minutely  the  progress  of  this  negotiation.     And  it 


Se<;t.  VI.]        Their  situation  but  little  relieved.  351 

but  too  plainly  appears  from  the  result,  that  the  Swiss 
commissioners  were  by  no  means  a  match  for  the  Jesuitical 
casuistry  of  the  court  of  Savoy.  A  treaty,  however,  was 
at  length  agreed  upon  and  ratified  between  the  parties ; 
but  "when  it  came  to  be  published  to  the  world,"  says  Sir 
S.  Morland,  "and  accurately  examined  by  wise  and  sober 
men,  it  was  found  to  resemble  a  leper  arrayed  in  rich 
clothing  and  gay  attire !  It  was  a  treaty  as  full  of  grie- 
vances as  poor  Lazarus  was  of  sores!  The  greater  part 
of  the  articles  of  which  it  consisted,  clashing  with  the  peo- 
ple's interests  and  ancient  privileges,  and  the  I'emainder 
made  up  of  expressions  which  looked  as  many  ways  as 
the  mariner's  compass.  In  short,  it  cannot  be  more  fitly 
compared  to  any  thing  than  to  Ezekiel's  roll,  which,  though 
it  were  as  sweet  as  honey  in  the  people's  mouths,  yet  there 
was  written  within  nothing  but  lamentation,  and  mourning, 
and  wo."  And  such  it  proved  in  the  issue,  for  no  sooner 
had  the  Swiss  commissioners  taken  their  departure  for  their 
own  country,  than  an  infinite  number  of  difficulties  and 
grievances  came  crawling  out  of  the  said  treaty,  like  so 
many  hornets  out  of  a  hollow  tree,  and  they  continued  to 
sting  tiie  poor  Waldenses  to  death. 

An  eflbrt  was  certainly  made  by  those  that  were  in  exile, 
to  avail  themselves  of  the  conditions  of  this  treaty,  of  which, 
as  it  was  intended  for  their  benefit,  they  were  disposed  at 
first  to  think  very  favourably.  But  a  little  experience 
convinced  them  that  it  was  not  in  reality  what  their  friends 
wished  for  them.  On  the  29th  of  March,  1650,  a  general 
meeting  of  the  churches  of  the  valleys  of  Piedmont  took 
place,   at  which   they  drew  up   a    paper   entitled,    "The 

GRIEVANCES    OF    THE    TREATY    MADE      AT      PiGXEROL."         It 

is  truly  an  afi^ecting  document,  and  that  the  reader  may 
form  some  judgment  of  it,  I  shall  subjoin  the  first  para- 
graph. They  complain  that  in  the  preamble  to  the  treaty, 
they  are  recognized  as  rebels,  and  disobedient  persons  who 
had  taken  arms  against  his  royal  highness,  their  natural 
prince  and  sovereign,  and  thereby,  as  persons  who  were 


•352  History  of  the  Christian  Church.        [ch.  vi. 

guilty  and  deserving  of  his  indignntion,  they  are  described 
as  asking  pardon  for  those  outrages  which,  it  was  pretended, 
they  had  committed;  and  thus,  say  they,  "we  are  plainly 
involved  in  the  crime  of  rebellion,  against  which  we  do 
now,  and  always  have  protested;  having  never  done  any 
one  act  that  can  justly  subject  us  to  that  imputation — no, 
not  even  when  the  whole  state  was  in  an  uproar — nor  even 
when  they  came  to  destroy  us,  as  they  did  last  year;  for 
although  we  had  very  great  cause  of  suspicion,  as  is  but 
too  manifest  from  the  event,  having  granted  for  the  most 
part  to  the  squadron  of  Savoy  their  winter  quarters,  yet 
no  sooner  had  the  Marquis  of  Pionessa  charged  us,  in  the 
name  of  his  royal  highness,  to  receive  his  forces,  than, 
without  making  the  least  resistance,  we  permitted  them  to 
enter  and  do  whatever  they  chose."  This  is  the  first  of 
fifteen  articles  of  grievance  which  they  enumerate. 

This  melancholy  catalogue  of  their  grievances  was  drawn 
up  with  a  view  of  making  an  appeal  concerning  them  to  the 
King  of  France,  and  imploring  his  interposition  to  get  them 
redressed.  Accordingly  having  specified  these  defects  in 
the  articles,  they  subjoin  a  list  of  thirteen  other  particulars. 
Avhich  had  been  refused  to  their  deputies,  on  which  they 
humbly  pray  that  due  reflection  may  be  made.  Among 
other  matters,  they  plead,  that  "having  been  always  faith- 
ful to  the  service  of  his  royal  highness  their  sovereign,  and 
yet  cruelly  massacred,  burned,  and  pillaged,  contrary  to 
his  intention,  he  would  be  pleased  to  give  orders  that  jus- 
tice might  be  done  upon  those  that  had  been  the  chief 
authors  and  agents  against  them — that  his  royal  highness 
would  be  pleased  to  repeal  the  Order  of  Gastaldo,  as  being 
contrary  to  all  their  ancient  concessions,  and  likewise  all  the 
orders  which  the  Marquis  of  Pionessa  had  caused  to  be 
published  during  the  late  contest,  and  to  command  that 
every  one  might  be  restored  to  his  own  property  and  pos- 
session— that  they  might  no  longer  be  subject  to  the  quar- 
tering of  soldiers  upon  them,  a  thing  with  which  they  had 
been  harassed  ever  since  the  year   1G24,  and  which  had 


SECT.  VI.]    Their  application  to  the  King  of  France.      353 

been  made  a  pretext  for  the  readier  method  of  destroying 
them,  but  that  in  lieu  of  it,  they  might  be  allowed,  in  com- 
mon with  others,  to  contribute  their  proportion  in  money — 
that  no  more  (Catholic)  missionaries  might  be  sent  into  the 
valley's,  because,  partly  by  their  rapes,  and  partly  by  sedi- 
tions and  false  reports,  these  missionaries  had  always  been 
fomenters  of  all  the  disorders  that  came  to  pass — that,  in 
short,  they  might  not  be  subject  to  the  council  de  propa- 
ganda Jide,  nor  to  any  of  its  members,  nor  to  the  inquisi- 
tion ;  but  that  every  thing  might  be  re-established  in  the 
condition  it  was  before  the  late  troubles,  with  liberty  of 
conscience,  and  the  free  exercise  of  their  religion,  with 
license  to  their  ministers  to  go  and  visit  the  sick  wherever 
they  lived,  as  well  as  the  liberty  of  preaching  the  gospel, 
&c.,  &:c.,  and  the  whole  terminates  with  the  following 
afl'ecting  appeal: 

"We  hope  from  the  equity  and  clemency  of  his  royal 
highness,  that  he  will  the  more  readily  grant  us  these 
privileges,  as  there  is  nothing  in  them  but  what  we  have 
quietly  enjoyed  under  the  happy  government  of  his  most 
serene  predecessors  of  glorious  memory,  according  to  their 
concessions,  and  nothing  but  what  may  tend  to  satisfy  us 
in  the  clearing  of  those  points,  which,  as  experience  hath 
showed  us,  have  been  wrested  to  a  wrong  sense,  and  to 
represent  the  true  meaning  and  the  equity  of  the  particulars 
herein  contained,  that  so  we  may,  once  for  all,  take  away 
from  the  disturbers  of  our  peace  all  occasion  of  troubling 
the  public  tranquillity,  and  be  enabled,  in  peace  and  secu- 
rity, to  render  to  God  that  which  belongs  to  God,  and  to 
Cresar  what  is  Ca?sar's;  as  we  do  protest  before  God  and 
his  holy  angels,  that  we  ever  have  had,  and  will  ever  have 
the  same  for  our  aim.  And  to  the  end  that  those  things, 
before  expressed,  may  stand  firm  and  inviolable,  we  humbly 
supplicate  his  most  Christian  majesty,  that  he  will  be 
pleased  to  procure  unto  us  this  favour  from  our  prince, 
that  all  may  be  put  into  the  form  of  a  transaction,  and  con- 
firmed, not  only  by  the  chamber  of  Turinj  but  also  in  tlial 


354  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [ch.  vi. 

of  Chambeiy,  and  that  many  original  copies  may  be  drawn, 
and  delivered  into  the  hands  of  those  to  whom  it  shall 
appertain." 

This  affecting  document  was  delivered  into  the  hands  of 
Monsieur  de  Bais,  the  French  minister,  and  by  him  trans- 
mitted to  his  royal  master,  who,  upon  receipt  of  it,  expressed 
great    concern   for   the  deplorable  condition  of  the  poor 
Waldenses,  but  his  kind  intentions  towards  them  were  en- 
tirely frustrated  by  some  malignant  spirits  near  the  throne. 
"  But,   so   it   happened,"  says  Sir  Samuel  Morland,  "  that 
from  this  time  forward,  the  leading  men  in  the  court  of  Sa- 
voy, have  used  their  best  endeavours  to  lay  heavier  loads 
on  their  backs,  than  ever  they  had  hitherto  done.     For  in 
their  orders  of  April  20,  and  October  6,  165G,  and  August 
24,  1G57,  they  summoned  the  poor  people  to  pay  their  taxes 
for  the  year    1055,  contrary  to  the  treaty,  while  they  ex- 
empted the  Catholics   from  the  said  taxes  :  and  when  they 
appealed  to  the  duke,  October  G,  1G57,  on  the  hardship  of 
their  case,  they  were,  among  other  things,  absolutely  pro- 
hibited the  exercise  of  their  public  worship  in  San  Giovanni. 
It  would  be  endless  to  repeat  all  the  edicts,  orders,  and  in- 
junctions that  were  issued  against  them  after  the  cruel   pa- 
tent in  1655,  with  all   their  consequent   grievances;  and  it 
is  painful  to  dwell   upon   so  melancholy  a  subject."     Our 
countryman,  Sir  Samuel  Morland,   remained  among  them 
until  the  summer  of  1658,  at  which  time  he  thus  afi'ecting- 
ly   closes   his  narrative.     "It   is  my  misfortune   that  I  am 
compelled  to  leave  these  people  where  1  found  them,  among 
the  potsherds,  with  sackcloth  and  ashes  spread  under  them, 
and  lifting  up  their  voice  with  weeping,  in  the  words  of  Job 
— '  Have  pity  on  us,  have  pity  on  us,  O  3  e  our  friends,  for 
thp  hand  of  God  hath  touched  us.' — To  this  very  day  they 
labour  under  most  heavy  burdens,  which  are  laid  upon  them 
by  their  rigid  taskmasters  of  the  church  of  Rome — forbid- 
ding them  all  kind  of  traffic  for  their  subsistence — robbing 
them  of  their  goods  and  estates — banishing  the  pastors  of 
their  flocks,  that  the  wolves  may  the  more  readily  devour 


SECT.  VII.]     History  of  the  Waldenses  continued.  355 

the  sheep — violathig  the  young  women  and  maidens — mur- 
dering the  most  innocer.t  as  they  peaceably  pass  along  the 
highways — by  cruel  inockings  and  revilings — by  continual 
threats  of  another  massacre,  sevenfold  more  bloody,  if  pos- 
sible, than  the  former.  To  all  which,  I  must  add  that,  not- 
withstanding the  liberal  supplies  that  have  been  sent  them 
from  England  and  other  places,  yet  so  great  is  the  number 
of  these  hungry  creatures,  and  so  gi'ievous  are  the  oppres- 
sions of  their  Popish  enemies,  who  lie  in  wait  to  bereave 
them  of  whatever  is  given  them,  snatching  at  almost  every 
morsel  that  goes  into  their  mouths,  that  even  to  this  day, 
some  of  them  are  almost  ready  to  eat  their  own  flesh  for  want 
of  bread.  Their  miseries  are  more  grievous  than  words  can 
express — they  have  no  *  grapes  in  their  vineyards — no  cat- 
tle in  their  fields — no  herds  in  their  stalls — no  corn  in  their 
granaries — no  meal  in  their  barrel — no  oil  in  their  cruse.' 
The  stock  that  was  gathered  for  them  by  the  people  of  this 
and  other  countries  is  fast  consuming,  and  when  that  is 
spent,  they  must  inevitably  perish,  unless  God,  'who  turns 
the  hearts  of  princes  as  the  rivers  of  water,'  incline  the 
heart  of  their  prince  to  take  pity  on  his  poor,' harmless,  and 
faithful  subjects."* 


SZSCTZOM'  VIX. 

History  of  the  Waldenses  continued;  including  a  narrative 
of  the  sanguinary  proceedings  of  the  Catholics  against 
them  in  Foland. 

A.  D.   1658. 

The  return  of  Sir  Samuel  Morland  from  his  mission  to 
the  court  of  Turin,  gave  him  an  opportunity  of  laying 
before  the  English  government  a  minute  and  circumstantial 

*  Morland's  Churches  of  Piedmont,  p.  682—708. 


35G  History  of  the  Christian  Church,  [ch.  v-j, 

explanation  of  the  state  of  the  VValdenses  in  Piedmont,  at 
the  time  of  his  departure  in  1658.  The  substance  of  this 
account,  the  reader  has  ah'eady  seen,  in  the  close  of  the 
last  section,  and  its  truth  and  accuracy  are  further  ascer- 
tained by  a  letter,  bearing  date  30th  of  November,  1657, 
Irom  the  four  Swiss  commissioners  who,  two  years  before, 
had  been  engaged  in  negotiating  the  treaty  of  Pignerol. 
This  letter  is  addressed  to  Monsieur  de  Servient,  ambas- 
sador of  the  French  king,  who  was  present  at  the  ratifica- 
tion of  the  treaty,  and,  as  it  would ,  seem,  had  taken  a 
considerable  interest  therein.  The  Swiss  commissioners 
complain  that  the  conditions  of  the  treaty  were  grossly 
violated  by  the  adversaries  of  the  Waldenses;  that  inter- 
pretations were  put  upon  various  clauses  contained  in  it, 
the  reverse  of  what  they  were  intended  to  bear ;  and,  in 
short,  that  the  situation  in  which  these  poor  people  were 
now  placed,  called  loudly  for  the  cognizance  and  interfe- 
rence of  the  court  of  France,  which  stood  pledged  to  see 
the  conditions  of  the  treaty  punctually  fulfilled.  They,  in 
particular,  notice  the  lawless  procedure  of  the  military 
towards  the  Waldenses,  in  plundering  them  of  their  fruits, 
which  they  carried  away  without  the  least  ceremony,  com- 
mitting robberies  in  their  houses,  and  spoiling  them  of 
their  goods — that  "  they  were  laden  with  reproaches  and 
hijuries,  beaten  and  wounded ;  the  virtue  of  their  females 
attempted,  with  numerous  other  outrages,  altogether  inex- 
cusable." "  That  several  persons  who  had  been  sent  to 
settle  among  them  in  the  capacity  of  pastors  and  teachers, 
from  their  sister  churches  in  Dauphiny,  had  been  seized 
and  banislied  out  of  the  country,  on  the  ground  that  they 
were  not  natives,  and  that  therefore  the  conditions  of  the 
treaty  did  not  extend  to  them — and  that,  in  particular,  one 
of  their  pastors  who  had  exercised  the  holy  ministry  among 
them  for  thirty  years,  together  with  one  Mr.  Arnold,  a 
physician,  had  been  turned  out  and  banished,  so  that  by 
these  and  similar  means  many  churches  and  congregations 
were  at  once  deprived  of  the  food  of  their  souls  and  com- 


SECT,  vii.]        Cromwell  to  the  King  of  France.  357 

fort  of  their  bodies.  After  enumerating  a  long  catalogue 
of  similiJ.r  grievances,  they  say,  "Now  as  these  things  have 
happened  ro  our  friends  and  associates  in  religion,  so  jml- 
pahJy  contrary  to  our  expectation,  our  hearts  are  so  much 
the  more  sensiMy  afl'ected  by  it,  both  because  ue  were 
preseiit  in  the  na/Tie  of  our  lords  and  superiors  at  the  nego- 
tiating of  the  treaty,  and  because  we  are  personally  inte- 
rested tlierein."  Tiiey,  therefore,  supplicate  his  excellency 
to  interpose  his  mediation  for  the  good  of  their  friends,  and 
for  his  own  interest  and  honour's  sake ;  and  to  insist  that 
the  spirit  and  meaning  of  the  treaty  be  in  future  full}'  and 
absolutely  observed.  The  subject  was  also  taken  up  by 
the  English  government,  as  appears  by  the  following  let- 
ters, both  of  which  bear  date  May  2t),  1658. 


HIS    HIGHNESS    THE    LORD    PROTECTOR    TO     THE      KING     OF 
FRANCE. 

Most  Serene  and  Most  Potent  King  ! 

Your  majesty  may  remember,  that  while  the  treaty  was 
going  on  about  remedying  the  alliance  between  us — an 
alliance  that  has  now  happily  commenced,  as  the  many 
advantages  resulting  to  both  nations,  and  the  numerous 
incoiivenieuces  which  arise  from  it  to  our  comnon  enemies, 
abundantly  show — the  dreadful  slaughter  of  the  Waldenses 
took  place;  and  that,  with  the  utmost  affection  and  huma- 
nity, we  recommended  the  case  of  those  afflicted  and  desti- 
tute people  to  3  our  clemency  and  protection. 

We  are  far  from  thinking  that  your  majesty  has  been 
wanting  in  the  exercise  of  your  influence  and  authority 
with  the  Duke  of  Savoy  to  promote  so  pious  and  humane 
an  object :  and  as  for  our  part,  we,  and  many  other  princes 
and  states,  have  not  failed  to  interpose  by  embassies,  let- 
ters, and  entreaties.  After  a  most  inhuman  slaughter  of 
persons  of  botli  s.?xes,  and  of  every  age,  a  pence  was,  at 
last,  couciuded,  or  rather  a  more  concealed  course  of  hos' 

Vol.  A1.  3  A 


358  History  of  the  Christian  Church.        [ch.  vi. 

tiUty  under  the  disguise  of  peace*  The  conditions  of  the 
treaty  were  agreed  upon  in  your  town  of  Pignerol — hard 
ones  indeed — but  such  as  those  poor  people,  after  having 
undergone  every  species  of  outrage  and  cruelty,  would 
cheerfully  acquiesce  in,  hard  and  unjust  as  tliey  are,  were 
they  only  observed,  but  they  are  not  observed.  For,  by  a 
false  interpretation  of  every  article,  and  by  one  subterfuge 
or  other,  their  real  meaning  is  eluded,  and  faith  violated. 
Multitudes  are  ejected  from  their  ancient  possessions,  many 
prohibited  the  exercise  of  their  religion ;  new  payments  are 
exacted ;  a  new  fort  is  built  for  the  purpose  of  placing  a 
yoke  upon  them,  out  of  which  the  soldiers  sally  forth, 
plundering  and  putting  to  death  all  they  meet.  Besides 
which,  new  forces  are  of  late  privately  prepared  against 
them,  and  those  who  profess  the  Romish  religion  among 
them  are  directed  to  withdraw  for  a  time;  so  that  every 
thing  seems  again  to  portend  the  slaughtering  of  those 
miserable  creatures  who  escaped  the  former  butchery — 
a  thing  which  I  entreat  and  beseech  your  majesty  that  you 
will  not  suffer  to  be  done;  nor  permit,  I  do  not  say  any 
prince, — for  such  enormous  cruelty  cannot  enter  into  the 
heart  of  any  prince,  much  less  can  it  befall  the  tender  age 
of  that  prince,  or  the  mind  of  his  mother, — but  those  most 
savage  murderers,  to  exercise  such  a  license  of  outrageous 
tyranny :  Men  who,  while  they  profess  themselves  the  ser- 
vants of  Christ,  and  followers  of  him  who  came  into  the 
world  to  save  sinners,  at  the  same  time  abuse  his   merciful 

*  It  may  not  be  improper  in  this  place  to  correct  a  very  inaccurate 
statement  of  this  matter  which  appears  in  Neal's  History  of  the  Puri- 
tans, vol.  IV.  ch.  iii.,  under  the  3ear  1655.  Referring'  to  the  interfe- 
rence of  the  Protector  with  the  Duke  of  Savoy,  it  is  said,  upon  the 
authority  of  Bishop  Burnet,  "Upon  this  the  persecution  immediately 
ceased ;  the  duke  recalled  his  army  out  of  the  valleys,  and  restored 
their  ^oods;  the  poor  people  returned  to  ihe\r  houses,  and  recovered 
all  their  ancient  rights  and  privileges.''''  How  far  this  representation 
corresponds  with  the  truth  of  things,  let  the  impartial  reader  judge 
after  carefully  perusing  the  preced  og  pages,  and  the  representation 
that  Milton  has  given  of  the  real  state  of  matters,  in  this  and  the  fol- 
lowing letter. 


SECT.  VII.]     Cromwell  to  the  King  of  France.  359 

name  and  meek  precepts,  to  perpetrate  the  most  cruel  mas- 
sacres on  innocent  persons.  Oh,  that  your  majesty,  w  ho 
are  able,  and,  advanced  as  you  are  to  such  exalted  dignity, 
who  are  worthy  of  tlie  power  you  possess,  would  rest  i.e 
so  many  of  your  poor  petitioners  out  of  the  hands  of 
bloody  men,  who  having  been  lately  drunk  with  blood, 
are  again  thirsting  after  it,  exulting  when  they  are  enabled 
to  fix  the  invidious  charge  of  cruelty  upon  princes  them- 
selves; but  let  not  your  majesty  allow  the  borders  of  your 
kingdom  to  be  defiled  by  such  cruelty.  Recollect,  that 
those  very  people  threw  themselves  under  the  protection 
of  King  Henry,  your  grandfather,  a  firm  friend  of  the 
Protestants,  when  the  Duke  of  I'Esdiguires,  passing  through 
their  country,  which  aflbrds  the  most  convenient  entrance 
into  Italy,  prosecuted  his  victory  against  the  Duke  of 
Savoy,  who  retreated  beyond  the  Alps.  The  instrument 
of  their  submission  remains  among  the  public  records  of 
your  realm  to  this  day;  in  which,  among  other  things, 
it  is  excepted  and  provided,  that  the  people  of  the  valleys 
should  not,  at  any  future  time,  be  transferred  to  the  juris- 
diction of  any  other  prince,  but  upon  the  same  conditions 
on  which  they  were  received  into  the  protection  of  your 
majesty's  victorious  grandfather.*  The  same  protection 
they  once  more  implore,  and  submissively  entreat  from  his 
grandchild.  Their  anxious  wish  is,  that,  in  some  way  of 
exchange,  if  it  can  be  efiected,  they  may  become  your 
subjects,  rather  than  remain  his  under  whom  they  now 
are.  But  if  that  cannot  be  effected,  that  they  may,  at  any 
rate,  obtain  from  you,  patronage,  protection,  and  refuge. 
There  are  also  reasons  of  state  which  should  induce  your 
majesty  not  to  abandon  the  Waldenses — but  1  am  not 
willing  that  so  great  a  king  should  be  stimulated  to  the 
relief  of  men  whose  circumstances  are  so  pitiable,  by  any 
other  reasons  than  the  obligations  of  fidelit}  given  by  your 

*  In  this  last  sentence  Milton  seems  to  throw  some  li^ht  upon  a 
subject  which  has  beea  more  than  once  hinted  at  in  Uie  preceding 
pages. 


3G0  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [ch.  vi. 

ancestors  and  your  own  piety,  added  to  your  royal  be- 
nignity and  the  greatness  of  your  own  mind.  Thus  the 
honour  and  renown  of  an  act  so  trul}'  glorious  will  be 
wholly  your  own,  and  thereby  your  majesty,  as  long  as 
you  live,  mny  expect  to  find  prosperity  and  blessings  from 
the  Father  of  mercies  himself,  and  fro)n  his  Son  Christ 
the  King,  whose  name  and  doctrine  you  will  be  the  means 
of  vindicating  from  detestable  viliany. 

Given  at  our  court  at  Westminster,  May  20,  1658. 

the     protkctoll    to     the     evangelical     cantons     of 
switzerland. 

Most  Illustrious  and  Most  Magnificent  Lords! 

Although  it  is  impossible  for  us  to  contemplate  the  mon- 
strous cruelties  which  have  been  indicted  upon  your  poor 
distressed  neighbours  of  the  valleys,  without  astonishment ; 
or  the  grievous  and  intolerable  things  to  which  they  have 
been  subjected  by  tlieir  prince,  on  account  of  their  religion; 
we  thought  it  needless  to  write  to  you,  to  whom  those 
things  must  be  better  known  than  to  us.  We  have  seen 
copies  of  the  letters  which  your  ambassadors,  who  were 
parties  and  witnesses  to  the  peace  lately  made  at  Pignerol, 
wrote  to  the  Duke  of  Savoy,  and  the  president  of  his 
council  at  Turin;  in  which  they  particularly  show  that  all 
the  articles  of  the  peace  have  been  broken,  and  that  they 
have  been  made  use  of  for  the  purpose  of  deceiving,  rather 
than  of  affording  protection  to  these  miserable  people. 
But  must  they  patiently  bear  this  violation  of  the  articles, 
which  began  the  instant  peace  was  concluded,  and  has 
been  persevered  in  to  the  present  moment,  and  which  grows 
more  intolerable  every  day?  Are  they  to  submit  basely, 
and  give  themselves  up  to  be  trodden  under  foot  and  utterly 
ruined?  The  same  calamity  hangs  over  their  heads,  and 
another  massacre  similar  to  that  which  wasted  and  de- 
stroyed them,  with  their  wives  and  children  in  so  shocking 


SECT,  vii.]      Cromicell  to  the  Siviss  Cantons.  3G1 

a  manner  about  three  years  ago,  \^  liich,  should  it  take 
place,  must  inevitably  extirjyate  tlit-in.  What  can  tiiose 
poor  distressed  creatures  du,  who  have  no  door  opened  for 
petitioning,  no  space  for  breathing,  nor  any  place  of  se- 
curity to  which  they  can  flee?  They  have  to  do  witli  wild 
beasts,  or  rather  with  furies,  in  whom  tlie  recollection  of 
former  slaughters  has  effected  no  repentance,  nor  any 
compassion  towards  their  own  countrymen,  no  sense  of 
humanity,  no  satiety  with  the  shedding  of  blood !  In  plain 
terms,  these  things  are  not  to  be  endured,  whether  we 
regard  the  safety  of  our  brethren  of  the  valleys — those 
most  ancient  professors  of  the  orthodox  faith — or  of  reli- 
gion itself. 

As  to  our  part,  remote  as  we  are  in  situation  from  them 
we  have  done  every  thing  that  was  in  our  power,  nor  shall 
we  cease  to  perform  whatever  is  yet  possible  for  them.  But 
as  to  you  who  are  so  near,  not  only  to  the  miseries  and  la- 
mentations of  our  brethren,  but  exposed  also  to  the  fury 
of  the  same  enemies,  we  beseech  you,  by  every  thing  that 
is  sacred,  to  consider,  and  that  without  delay,  what  it  be- 
hooves you  to  do  at  this  moment — consult  your  own  pru- 
dence, your  pietj',  and  even  your  fortitude,  what  assistance 
or  relief  you  can  or  ought  to  extend  to  your  neighbours 
and  brethren  who,  otherwise,  are  ready  to  perish.  It  is 
the  very  same  cause  of  religion,  for  which  tl)e  same  enemies 
would  have  destroyed  you  also — yea,  on  account  of  which 
they  would,  in  the  preceding  year,  during  the  civil  war 
among  your  confederates,  have  effected  your  destruction. 
Next  to  the  help  of  God,  it  seems  to  devolve  on  you,  to 
provide  that  the  most  ancient  stock  of  pure  religion,  may 
not  be  destroyed  in  this  remnant  of  its  ancient  faithful  pro- 
fessors, whose  safety,  reduced  as  it  now  is  to  the  extremity 
of  hazard,  if  you  neglect,  beware  that  the  next  lot  do  not 
speedily  fall  upon  yourselves  ! 

While  in  this  free  and  fraternal  manner  we  thus  exhort 
you,  we,  in  the  mean-time,  do  not  faint  or  grow  weary. 
Whatever  was  in  our  power,  at  this  remote  distance,  we 


362  History  of  the  Christian  Church.         [ch.  vi. 

have  done.  We  have  contributed  our  utmost  endeavours, 
and  shall  continue  so  to  do,  both  for  procuring  the  safety 
of  those  that  are  in  danger,  and  relieving  the  necessities  of 
those  that  want.  May  God  grant  to  both  of  us  such  tran- 
quillity and  peace  at  home,  and  so  prosperous  a  state  of 
affairs  and  of  opportunities,  that  we  may  employ  all  our 
power,  strength,  and  means  for  the  defence  of  the  church, 
against  the  rage  and  fury  of  its  enemies. 
Westminster,  May  26,   1658. 

The  letter  addressed  to  the  King  of  France,  was  trans- 
mitted to  Lord  Lockhart,  who  then  filled  the  office  of  En- 
glish ambassador  at  the  French  court,  to  whom  the  Protec- 
tor, at  the  same  time,  wrote,  giving  him  instructions  to  pre- 
sent the  letter  to  his  majesty,  and  pointing  out  eight  prin- 
cipal topics  of  grievance  which  he  was  to  adduce  in  his 
conversation  with  that  monarch,  and  to  use  his  utmost  en- 
deavours to  make  his  majesty  sensible  of  them,  and  to  per- 
suade him  to  give  immediate  and  positive  instructions  to 
his  ambassador,  then  resident  at  the  duke's  court,  to  act 
vigorously  in  behalf  of  the  oppressed  Waldenses.  He  was 
also  to  urge  the  obligations  the  French  king  lay  under,  to 
fulfil  the  engagement  of  his  royal  predecessor  Henry  IV. 
with  the  ancestors  of  these  very  people,  and  to  press  the 
King  of  France  to  make  an  exchange  with  the  Duke  of 
Savoy  for  the  valleys  of  Piedmont,  resigning  some  part  of 
his  own  dominions  to  the  latter  in  lieu  thereof. 

In  the  same  year,  1C58,  and  at  the  moment  that  the  En- 
glish government  was  making  such  laudable  exertions  to 
relieve  the  Waldenses  in  Piedmont,  the  news  arrived  of 
another  dreadful  scene  of  cruelty  and  distress  exercised 
towards  a  branch  of  the  same  people,  inhabiting  a  distant 
quarter.  The  three  tbllowing  papers,  which,  like  the 
whole  of  the  melancholy  subject  to  which  they  relate, 
have  since  sunk  into  the  most  profound  oblivion,  were 
printed  by  authority,  at  the  time ;  and  as  they  sufficiently 
explain  themselves,  it  is  needless  to  introduce  them  by  any 


SECT.  Til.]  Declarationin  favour  of  Polish  fValclcnses.   363 

formal  preamble.  There  can  be  little  doubt  that  the  first 
of  them  was  the  composition  of  Milton  :  and  the  original 
now  before  me,  which  is  printed  in  ))laCl^  ICttfC,  has  the 
Protector's  arms  prefixed  to  it.* 

A  Declaration  of  his  Highness,  for  a  collection  towards  the 
relief  of  divers  Protestant  churches  driven  out  of  Poland  ; 
and  of  twenty  Protestant  families  driven  out  of  the  con- 
fines of  Bohemia. 

His  HIGHNESS,  the  Lord  Protector,  having  received  a 
petition  from  several  churches  of  Christ,  professing  the  re- 
formed religion,  lately  seated  at  Lesna,  and  other  places, 
in  Poland,  rej)resenting  their  sad  and  deplorable  condition, 
through  the  persecution  and  cruelty  of  their  antichristian 
enemies  in  those  parts,  in  the  time  of  the  war  in  Poland,  by 
whom  they  liave  not  only  been  driven  from  their  habitation 
and  spoiled  of  their  goods,   upon  the  account  of  religion 

*  It  is  a  mortifvinp;'  reflection,  that  these  interesting'  letters  should 
now  be  almost  forgotten  as  the  composition  of  our  great  poet. 
Whence  comes  it  to  pa^s  that  while  Milton's  defence  of  the  People  of 
England  is  so  generally  known,  no  one  ever  speaks  of  his  defence  of 
the  Waldenses  ?  It  will  be  dilficult  to  assign  a  more  plausible  reason 
for  this,  than  the  unpopularity  of  the  subject.  The  Waldenses  were  "a 
poor  and  afilicted  people,"  the  subjects  of  a  Kingdom  that  is  not  of  this 
world,  and  they  weie  treated  by  their  adversaries  as  "  the  filth  of  the 
world  and  ofFscouring  of  all  things."  But  Milfon  understood  their 
character,  and  duly  appreciated  it.  He  recognized  in  them  his  Chris- 
tian brethren;  their  distress  not  only  reached  his  ears,  but  roused  all 
the  sensibilities  of  his  soul ;  he  participated  in  their  sorrows ,  and  his  let- 
ters in  their  behalf  do  as  inuch  honour  to  the  benevolence  of  his  heart, 
as  his  immortal  poem  of  Paradise  Lost  does  to  the  sublimity  of  his  ge- 
nius. If  the  present  work  contain  any  thing  of  sn(rn;ient  interest  to  give 
it  a  temporary  buoyancy  upon  the  ocean  of  [>ublic  opinion,  and  prevent 
its  rapid  transition  into  the  gulf  of  oblivioi' — that  insatiable  vortex 
which  has  already  swallowed  up  myriads  of  iruich  more  im()ortant  pub- 
lications, the  author  would  persuade  himself  it  must  be  those  excellent 
letters  of  our  great  poet  Milton,  which,  in  the  capacity  of  Lalin  Se- 
cretary to  Cromwell,  he  wrote  to  the  Protestant  Princes  upon  the 
Continent,  pleading  the  cause  of  the  poor,  afHicted,  and  grossly  injured 
Waldenses. 


304  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [ch.  vi, 

only,  but  forced  to  fly  »'to  Silesia,  for  the  preservation  of 
their  lives,  and  for  the  liberty  of  their  consciences  ;  where  a 
considerable  number  of  them  continue  in  great  want  and 
misery — the  truth  whereof  hath  l)een  witnessed,  as  well  by 
deputies  sent  unto  his  highness  from  the  said  churches,  au- 
thorized by  an  instrument  under  the  hands  of  the  pastors 
of  five  of  those  churches,  as  also  by  the  testimony  of  se- 
veral Protestant  princes,  who,  out  of  a  deep  sense  of  the 
calamity  of  those  distressed  exiles,  have  afforded  them 
shelter  until  it  shall  please  the  Lord  otherwise  to  provide 
for  them.  And  his  highness  having,  in  like  manner,  re- 
ceived a  petition  from  twenty  Protestant  families  heretofore 
seated  in  the  confines  of  Bohemia,  where  Misnia  belongs 
unto  it,  representing  their  distressed  and  lamentable  condi- 
tion, through  the  persecution  of  the  Jesuits  and  inquisitors 
of  the  house  of  Austria,  by  whom  they  have  been  driv^en 
out  of  their  habitations,  and  spoiled  of  their  goods,  upon 
the  sole  account  of  their  religion  ;  who  now,  for  the  safety 
of  their  lives,  and  for  the  liberties  of  their  consciences,  are 
retired  into  the  marquisate  of  Culembach,  where  they  find 
a  present  shelter  in  this  their  very  sad  and  calamitous  con- 
dition, which  hath  been  witnessed  both  by  their  deputies 
sent  unto  his  highness,  authorized  by  an  instrument  under 
the  hands  of  the  chief  of  those  families,  as  also  by  a  pub- 
lic certificate  from  thence.  And  it  being  the  earnest  desire 
of  the  said  afflicted  churches  and  families,  as  well  by  their 
several  petitions,  as  by  their  deputies,  that  his  highness, 
out  of  compassion  to  their  sufierings,  would  be  pleased  to 
recommend  their  lamentable  condition  to  their  brethren  in 
these  nations,  in  whom  they  hope  to  find  bowels  of  mercy, 
yearning  towards  those  who,  professing  the  same  faith  with 
them,  are  now  under  so  great  extremities  and  misery 
for  'the  cause  of  the  gospel,  and  testimony  of  the  Lord 
Jesus. 

His  highness  being  greatly  afflicted  with  the  miserable 
and  calamitous  condition  of  the  said  churches  and  families, 
and  not  doubting  but  the  people  of  these  nations,  whom 


SECT,  VII.]  Declaration  in  favour  of  Polish  Waldenses.  3G5 

tiie  Lord  hath  graciously  and  wonderfully  preser\ed  from 
that  antichristian  bondage  and  tyraimy,  will  ha\e  a  fellow- 
feeling  of  the  afflictions  of  their  brethren,  hath,  with  the 
advice  of  his  privy-council,  thought  fit  to  recommend  their 
case  to  the  charity  of  those  whose  hearts  the  Lord  shall 
stir  up  in  these  nntions,  to  afford  them  some  seasonable  re- 
lief, whose  liberality  in  this  kind  hath  been  testified  in  their 
large  contributions  to  the  relief  of  the  poor  Protestants  in 
the  valleys  of  Piedmont,  to  the  refreshing  of  their  bowels 
(touching  the  faithful  distribution  whereof,  an  account  is 
ordered  by  his  highness  to  be  printed  for  general  satisfac- 
tion.) And  to  the  end  the  said  collections  may  be  care- 
fully made,  and  the  money  thereupon  collected  be  disposed 
of,  to  the  relief  of  the  said  poor  churches  and  their  mem- 
bers, and  the  f I'mlies  aforesaid,  and  to  no  other  uses,  his 
highness  doth  hereby  require  and  command  the  miiiisters 
and  churchwardens  of  the  I'espective  parishes  within  En- 
gland and  Wales,  and  town  of  Berwick-upon-Tweed,  the 
next  Lord's  day  after  this  declaration  shall  come  unto  their 
hands,  to  publish  the  same,  and  on  the  Lord's  day  follow- 
ing to  make  a  collection  of  the  charitable  contribution  of 
the  people  in  their  parishes,  and  that  within  three  days  after, 
they  pay  over  the  sum  or  sums  so  collected  unto  the  high 
sheriff  of  the  respective  counties,  to  be  by  him  paid  into 
the  hands  of  Sir  Thomas  Viner  and  Sir  Christopher  Pack, 
knights,  Aldermen  of  the  city  of  London,  who  are  ap- 
pointed treasurers  for  this  service,  and  who  shall  transmit 
the  moneys  so  to  be  by  them  received  for  the  relief  of  the 
said  poor  distressed  churches  and  their  members,  and  the 
aforesaid  twenty  families,  in  such  manner  and  proportions 
as  the  committee  formerly  appointed  for  the  disposing  of 
the  moneys  for  the  relief  of  the  said  poor  Protestants  in 
Piedmont,  shall,  with  respect  to  their  several  numbers  and 
sufferings,  think  fit  and  direct,  and  to  the  end  that  none  of 
the  moneys  collected  for  so  pious  and  charitable  an  end  may 
miscarry,  the  ministers  and  churchwardens  aforesaid  are 
Vot.  n.  3  B 


366  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [ch.  vi. 

enjoined,  upon  pa^yment  of  the  said  money  to  the  respective 
sheriffs  as  aforesaid,  to  send  up  unto  tlie  said  Sir  Thomas 
Viner  a  note  in  writing  under  their  hands,  of  the  sum  so 
collected,  the  parish  and  co:  nty  where  such  collection  was 
made,  and  the  person  to  whom  the  same  was  paid,  to  the 
end  care  may  be  taken,  and  the  same  may  be  duly  returned 
and  employed  to  the  use  intended. 

By  the  Committee  for  the  Affairs  of  the  poor  Protestants  in 
the  Valleys  of  Fiedmont. 

The  all-wise  and  holy  God,  whose  ways  of  providence 
are  always  righteous,  though  often  secret  and  unsearchable, 
hath  made  it  the  constant  lot  and  portion  of  his  people  in 
this  world,  to  follow  the  Lord  in  bearing  the  cross  and 
suffering  persecutions,  thereby  holding  forth  and  verifying 
that  irreconcileable  enmity  between  the  seed  of  the  woman 
and  the  seed  of  the  serpent,  which  was  visible  betimes  in 
the  bloodshed  of  righteous  Abel,  whom  Cain  (though  his 
brother)  slew,  being  of  the  wicked  one,  yea,  and  for  this 
cause,  for  that  his  own  works  were  evil,  and  his  brother's 
good.  Thus  they  that  are  born  after  the  flesh,  persecute 
them  that  are  born  after  the  spirit  to  this  day,  and  so  will 
do  while  the  world  lasteth.  In  which  cause  and  quarrel 
the  Lord  hath  very  many  glorious  ends.  But  scarcely 
have  any  sort  of  the  church's  enemies  more  clearly  followed 
the  pernicious  ways  of  Cain  herein,  than  hath  the  anti- 
christian  faction  of  Rome  done,  that  Mother  of  Harlots  and 
Abominations,  whose  garments  are  died  red  with  the  blood 
of  saints,  which  they  have  always  cruelly  shed,  and  made 
themselves  drunk  with,  even  with  the  blood  of  those  holy 
followers  of  the  Lamb,  chiefly  who  would  not  receive  Anti- 
christ's mark,  nor  worship  his  image,  nor  drink  of  the  golden 
cup  of  his  fornications,  but  rather  come  out  from  them,  and 
witness  against  them,  though  they  did  it  in  sackcloth,  and 
were  slain  for  it. 


SECT*  rii.]   Persecution  of  the  Walchnses  In  Poland.     367 

Among  those  chosen  and  faithful  witnesses,  the  Lord 
seemeth  very  signally  to  have  raised  up  those  Christians, 
who,  though  dispersed  in  divers  countries,  have  been  com- 
monly known  by  the  name  of  Waldenses,  who  for  some 
centuries  of  years,  have  lived  among  their  enemies  as  lambs 
among  wolves,  to  bear  their  testimony  for  the  truth  of  Christ, 
against  the  apostacies  and  blasphemies  of  Rome,  for  which 
they  have  been  killed  all  the  day  long,  and  appointed  as 
sheep  for  the  slaughter.  Nevertheless,  the  Lord,  the  great 
Shepherd  of  the  sheep,  hath  made  their  blood  thus  shed,  to 
become  a  constant  seed  of  faithful  and  valiant  witnesses  for 
him :  which  is,  indeed,  the  more  marvellous  in  our  eyes, 
that  this  bush  hath  so  long  burned,  and  is  not  yet  con- 
sumed. 

This  little  flock  and  remnant  which  the  Lord  hath  left 
and  reserved  are  scattered  partly  in  the  valleys  of  Piedmont, 
of  whose  tragical  sufferings  we  have  not  long  since  heard, 
and  have  drawn  forth  our  bowels  to  them,  whereof  a  very 
faithful  account  is  given  to  the  world,  both  for  the  satisfac- 
tion of  brethren  and  friends,  and  for  stopping  the  mouths  of 
all  calumnies. 

The  other  part  of  this  poor,  yet  precious  remnant,  have 
been  dispersed  in  the  liingdoms  of  Bohemia  and  Poland, 
whose  sufl'erings,  together  with  the  Lord's  signal  providen- 
ces about  them,  have  been  very  eminent  and  remarkable,  as 
hath  been  made  appear  unto  us  by  three  godly  persons,  de- 
legated by  those  persecuted  churches,  which  are  now  the 
sad  monuments  of  their  enemies'  rage,  and  of  the  Lord's 
sparing  mercies. 

These  have  made  their  addresses  to  his  highness  the  Lord 
Protector,  by  petition,  declaring  the  deplorable  estate 
wherein  this  persecuted  remnant  now  lieth,  and  with  loud 
cries  importuning  the  Christian  bowels  and  bounty  of  this 
nation,  which  cannot  be  moved  to  mourn  over  them,  and  to 
show  mercy  to  them.  And,  indeed,  upon  a  due  sense  and 
consideration   of   this    lamentable    subject,  even   common 


;j6S  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [cH.  vt, 

humanity,  but  much  more  Christian  charity,  should  pro- 
voke us  to  a  fellow-feehng  of  tlieir  present  distressed  con- 
dition. 

These  sometime  flourishing;  churches,  were,  by  degrees, 
worn  out  by  the  constant  underminings  and  open  outrages 
of  the  antichristian  party,  being  first  driven  out  of  Bohemia 
into  Poland,  then  after  their  taking  root  and  spreading  in 
Poland  into  a  numerous  company,  were  forced  out  of  the 
chief  cities  there,  and  now,  at  last,  by  the  jesuited  and  en- 
raged Polish  army,  persecuted  in  their  few  hiding  places, 
with  fire  and  sword. 

Their  ministers  were  tortured  to  death  by  most  exquisite 
and  unheard  of  barbarism,  by  cutting  out  of  the  tongues 
of  some,  pulling  out  the  eyes  and  cruelly  mangling  the  bo- 
dies of  others ;  nor  did  their  rage  and  brutish  cruelty  reach 
only  to  ministers,  but  to  others,  yea  even  to  women  and 
young  children,  whose  heads  they  cut  oft",  and  laid  them  at 
their  dead  mothers'  breasts. 

Nay,  their  rage  brake  out  not  only  upon  the  living  (not 
one  of  whom  they  spared  that  fell  into  their  hands)  but  also 
upon  the  dead,  plucking  the  bodies  of  honourable  persons 
and  others  out  of  the  graves,  tearing  them  to  pieces,  and 
exposing  them  to  public  scorn. 

But  the  chief  eyesore  and  object  of  their  fury  was  the 
city  of  Lesna,  which,  after  plundering  and  murdering  all 
whom  tiiey  found  therein,  they  burned  to  ashes,  and  laid  in 
rubbish ;  only  the  Lord  in  his  mercy  having  alarmed  the  city 
of  their  enemies'  approaching  march,  the  greatest  part  of 
the  inhabitants  (being  three  famous  churches)  saved  them- 
selves by  flight,  and  are  now  wandering  up  and  down  in  Si- 
lesia, the  marquisate  of  Brandenburgh,  Lusatia,  and  Hunga- 
ry, poor,  destitute,  afllicted,  and  naked. 

His  highness  and  the  council  having  referred  unto  this 
committee  the  testimonials  and  petitions  sent  by  the  said 
churches,  we  finding,  upon  examination  thereof,  their  case  to 
be  thus  deplorable,  which  is  more  at  large  stated  and  dCr 


SECT.  vii.J    Persecution  of  the  Waldenses  in  Poland.     3G9 

clarcd  in  their  own  narrative,  have  caused  the  said  narrative 
to  be  translated,  raid  herewith  pubh,>hed,  thereby  to  stir  up 
the  Lord's  people  in  these  nations  to  put  on  bowels  of  mer- 
cies towards  these  their  exiled  and  aftlicted  brethren,  refresh- 
ing their  hearts  by  j'our  love,  and  the  tokens  of  it  in  a 
cheerful  and  liberal  sup])ly;  which  will  not  only  preserve 
this  holy  seed  from  perishing,  that  hath  a  blessing  in  it,  but 
also  uphold  among  them  the  purity  of  religion  and  power 
of  the  gospel. 

The  rather  considering  the  present  freedom  from  these 
bloody  outrages,  we,  the  people  of  these  nations,  do  by  the 
blessing  of  the  Lord  enjo} ,  the  continuance  whereof  we  may 
the  more  comfortably  hope  for,  by  how  much  our  compas- 
sions are  more  freely  extended  to  those  in  misery.  And  if  a 
cup  of  cold  water  given  to  one  disciple,  as  such,  shall  not 
lose  its  reward,  how  much  more  when  a  bountiful  relief  is 
given  to  more  than  five  thousand  disciples  ? 

Which  we  should  be  the  more  forward  to  advance,  because 
they  acknowledge  they  have  received  much  confirmation 
in  the  religion  for  which  they  sufler,  by  light  received  from 
our  countryman  John  Wickliff,  that  famous  witness  of 
Christ  against  Antichrist,  even  in  the  darkest  times  of 
Popery. 

And  we  doubt  not  but  that  God  who  hath  lately  opened 
your  bowels  to  so  large  and  eminent  a  contribution  towards 
the  persecuted  Protestants  of  Piedmont  (for  which  many 
thanksgivings  have  been  made  to  God  in  your  behalf)  will 
again  draw  out  your  hearts  upon  this  like  sad  occasion,  to 
the  like  bountiful  liberality,  it  being  our  duty  to  cast  our 
bread  upon  the  waters,  and  to  give  a  portion  to  six  and  also 
to  seven,  not  being  weary  of  well  doing,  because  in  due 
time  we  shall  reap  if  we  faint  not.  Considering  also  how 
honourable  it  is  to  act  grace,  and  to  lay  out  ourselves  upon 
such  occasions,  we  recommend  it  again  as  the  work  of  God 
accompanied  with  his  own  voice,  calling  aloud  upon  us  to 
enlarge  ourselves  in  this  ministration,  and  withal  to  pour 
out  our  hearts  in  faith  and  prayer,  that  the  Lord  would  yet 


f 


370  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [ch.  ti. 

please  to  raise  up  Sion  upon  the  ruins  of  Babylon,  hasten- 
ing his  work,  and  blessing  means  to  it. 

John  Trevor  John  Owen 

Christopher  Pack  William  Jenkyn 

William  Purefoy  Philip  JVye 

Edivard  Cresset  William  Cooper 

Thomas  Vyner  Edmond  Calamy. 
Joseph  Caryl 


The  fury  of  Anlichrist  against  the  Protestants  or  reformed 
church  of  the  Bohemian  Confession  in  Poland,  set  doivn 
in  a  brief  but  faithful  JVarratioe,  and  according  to  the 
truth  of  the  matter. 

The  spouse  of  Jesus  Christ,  she  who  in  the  cradle  was 
besprinkled  with  the  blood  of  a  proto-niartyr,  hath  always 
brought  into  the  world  men  like  Abel  or  Stephen,  that  so 
there  might  never  be  wanting  to  cry  from  the  earth  unto 
God,  and  that  the  wounds  of  that  rose  which  lies  among  the 
thorns  of  persecution  might  not  be  concealed.  Every  age, 
and  every  year  in  each  age,  and  every  month  and  day  in 
each  year,  hath  produced  new  inundations  of  blood  unto 
this  day;  and  yet  the  little  flock  of  the  Lord  hath  always 
increased  under  persecutions,  one  while  here,  another  there, 
shifting  their  seats  and  habitations.  While  it  pleased  God, 
by  the  means  of  Wickliff,  to  kindle  the  light  of  the  gospel 
in  Great  Britain,  John  Huss  asserted  the  truth  of  Jesus 
Christ  in  the  midst  of  the  thick  darkness  of  Popery  in  Bo- 
hemia, many  thousands  being  stirred  up  by  God  to  receive 
it.  Mho,  despising  all  the  cruelty  of  tyrants,  received  it  with 
jov,  until  by  God's  assistance,  they  took  root  in  the  king- 
doin,  and  grew  up  into  flourishing  churches.  In  a  short 
time  after,  Antichrist  breathing  out  his  fury,  the  truth  was 
banished  out  of  Bohemia,  and  the  confessors  being  driven 
out,  transplanted  the  gospel  into  Poland;  where,  being  fa- 
vourably entertained  by  King  Sigismond,  they,  in  a  short 


SECT.  VII.]  Persecution  of  the  Waldenses  in  Poland.     371 

time,  increased  to  so  great  a  number,  that  being  little  infe- 
rior to  the  Papists,  they  were  able  to  boast  of  an  equal  au- 
thority and  privileges  with  them.  Hence  it  came  to  pass 
that  the  kings  at  their  coronations  were  wont  not  only  to 
promise,  but  solemnly  to  swear  protection  to  such  as  disa- 
greed from  the  Roman  religion,  and,  therefore,  they  pro- 
ceeded not  to  open  persecutions,  save  only  in  tliose  cities 
where  the  Jesuits  had  seated  themselves  in  power,  to  wit, 
Cracovia,  Posen,  Lubin,  Vilna,  &ic.,  where,  by  their  disci- 
ples, and  by  stirring  up  the  common  people  to  fury,  the 
churches  of  the  reformed  professors  were  a  good  while  ago 
demolished  and  divers  ministers  cruelly  massacred.  Never- 
theless the  malice  of  the  enemies  being  no  whit  allayed, 
they  were  many  ways  afflicted,  first  indirectly,  alterwards 
by  pretences  under  colour  of  law,  until  those  churches  being 
worn  out  by  degress,  and  overthrow n,  were  not  many  years 
ago  reduced  to  a  very  inconsiderable  number,  especially 
when,  as  in  the  reign  of  the  late  king,  the  enemies  being 
confident  they  might  do  any  thing,  brought  things  to  this 
pass  at  length,  th:-t  there  were  no  more  than  twenty-one  con- 
gregations remaining  in  the  greater  Poland,  and  those  also 
ready  to  perish.  But  among  these  twenty-one  remaining 
churches,  the  chief,  and,  as  it  were,  the  mother  of  them  all, 
was  that  of  Lesna,  wliich  was  divided  into  three  congrega- 
tions, the  Bohemian,  the  Polonian,  and  the  German;  each 
of  which  had  their  own  pastors,  but  the  communicants  joint- 
ly were  about  two  thousand :  therefore,  it  was  that  this 
joint  church  was,  in  the  first  place,  exposed  to  the  enemy's 
malice,  and  of  late  designed  to  the  slaughter,  as  well  by 
reason  of  its  being  very  much  frequented  and  grown  fa- 
mous, as  also  because  of  the  synod  there  usually  celebrated, 
as  Ukewise  a  famous  university  and  printing  house,  and 
books  frequently  published  to  the  world.  When,  therefore 
in  the  year  1 655,  the  Sw  edish  army  out  of  Pomerania  drew 
near  to  the  borders  of  Poland,  and  the  nobility  were  sum- 
moned to  arms,  according  to  the  custom  of  the  countrv,  it 
came  to  pass  that  the  Papists  brake  forth  into  many  furious 


372  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [ch.  vi. 

expressions,  crying  out,  tliat  the  heretics  had  invited  the 
enemy,  and,  therelbre,  they  were  first  of  all  to  be  put  to  the 
sword  and  extirpated ;  w  hich  reports,  though  most  falsely 
scattered  abroad  (for  the  searcher  of  hearts  and  reins 
knoweth,  that  we  never  so  much  as  dreamt  of  it)  yet  they 
easily  found  credit  among  the  sworn  enemies  of  the  gospel, 
who  sought  nothing  more  than  our  ruin.  Hereupon  they 
who  first  consulted  to  agree  with  the  Swedish  army,  being 
terrified  by  its  power,  concluded  about  the  surrender  of  all 
Great  Poland  into  the  king's  protection,  and  namely,  the 
royal  cities  of  Posen,  Celissen,  Meseric,  he,  to  which  also 
Lesna  was  expressly  added.  In  a  little  time  after,  they  en- 
deavoured to  cast  off  the  Swedish  yoke,  and  turned  their 
arms  not  against  the  Swedes,  but  first  against  our  evange- 
lical professors,  as  conspiring  with  the  Swedes  upon  the  ac- 
count of  religion,  and  none  of  them  scrupled  to  take  re- 
venge upon  them.  They  first  of  all  set  upon  those  of  Les- 
na, with  the  resolution  of  putting  all  to  the  svvoi-d,  and 
destroying  that  heretical  city  by  fire,  and  they  had  efiected 
both,  unless  God  had,  by  sending  some  persons  before,  who 
by  signifying  the  coming  ol  the  enemy,  and  with  what  in- 
tent they  came,  had  possessed  the  citizens  with  a  panic  fear, 
so  that  leaving  all  their  estates,  they  every  man  fled;  and 
thus  within  the  space  of  one  hour,  a  most  populous  city, 
abounding  with  all  manner  of  wealth,  was  left  without  in- 
habitants, who,  in  a  miserable  condition,  wandered  then  into 
the  neighbouring  woods  and  marshes  into  Silesia.  But  the 
Polish  nobility,  with  their  army,  entering  the  city,  did  what 
they  pleased,  slaying  a  great  number  of  decrepit  old  people, 
and  sick  persons,  that  were  not  able  to  save  themselves  by 
flight;  then  the  city  itself  was  first  plundered;  and  after- 
wards was  so  destroyed  by  fire,  for  three  days  together, 
thcit  no  part  of  it  remained  besides  rubbish  and  ashes.  In 
what  manner  they  would  have  handled  the  citizens,  especial- 
ly their  pastors,  they  showed  by  their  heroic  actions  per- 
formed in  other  places,  by  the  most  savage  sl-jughloriiig  of 
divers  ministers  of  the  church,  and  otiier  faitnlul  members 


SECT.  VII.]  Persecution  of  the  Waldenses  in  Poland.      376 

of  Christ  of  both  sexes ;  for  of  all  that  they  laid  hold 
on,  they  gave  not  one  man  quarter,  but  very  cruelly  put 
them  to  death  with  most  exquisite  tortures.  They  endea- 
voured to  force  Mr.  Samuel  Cardus,  pastor  of  the  church 
of  Czuertzinen,  to  renounce  his  religion,  after  they  had 
taken  him,  and  miserably  handled  him  with  all  manner  of 
cruelty ;  but  he  stoutly  resisting,  they  first  put  out  his  eyes, 
and  led  him  about  for  a  spectacle,  then  they  pulled  off  hi? 
fingers'  ends  with  pincers  ;  but  he  not  yet  condescending  to 
their  mad  fury,  they  found  out  a  new  kind  of  torment,  pour- 
ed molten  lead  into  his  mouth,  and,  at  length,  while  he  was 
yet  half  alive,  they  clapt  his  neck  between  folding  doors, 
and  violently  pushing  them  together  severed  his  head  from 
his  body.  They  took  John  Jacobides,  pastor  of  the  church 
of  Dembnick,  and  Alexander  Wartens,  his  colleague,  and 
another  that  was  in  company  with  them,  as  they  passed 
through  the  town  of  Lubin,  and  hurrying  them  up  and 
down  for  divers  hours,  and  grievously  handling  them  after 
the  manner  of  tyrants,  they  last  of  all,  cutting  their  throats 
with  a  razor,  threw  them  headlong,  while  they  were  jet 
breathing,  into  a  great  pit,  which  had  been  beforehand  pre- 
pared for  their  martyrs,  and  stifled  them  by  casting  down 
dung  and  dirt  upon  them.  They  a  great  while  pursued 
Andrew  Oxlitius,  a  young  man  designed  for  the  ministry, 
whom,  after  long  seeking,  they  at  last  found  in  the  open 
field,  and  in  the  end  having  taken  him,  they  cut  off  his 
head  with  a  scythe,  chopping  it  into  small  pieces,  and  the 
dead  carcass  also  they  slashed  in  a  barbarous  manner.  The 
same  fate  befell  Adam  Milota,  a  citizen  of  Lesna ;  but  they 
more  grievously  handled  an  old  man  above  seventy,  whose 
name  was  Simon  Priten,  and  many  others,  whose  names  it 
were  too  tedious  to  relate.  Of  that  barbarous  execution 
which  they  did  upon  the  weaker  sex,  there  were  besides 
other  examples,  horrid  trophies  of  cruelty  erected  in  the 
said  city  of  Lesna ;  a  pious  matron  there,  who  v\  as  the 
mother  of  three  children,  not  being  able  quick  enough  to 
leave  the  city,  and  being  shiin  in  the  open  street,  they  cut 
Vol.  ir.  3  0 


374  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [ch.  vi. 

off  her  hands  and  feet  and  cutting  off  her  children's  heads, 
the^'  laid  two  of  them  at  her  breasts,  and  the  third  by  her 
side.  In  like  manner,  another  woman  having  her  hands 
and  feet  cut  off,  and  her  tongue  cut  out,  being  inclosed 
and  bound  in  a  sack,  lived  the  space  of  two  days,  making 
most  miserable  lamentation.  Grief  forbids  us  to  add  more, 
for  they  behaved  themselves  so  furiously  towards  us,  that 
there  remains  not  an  example  of  any  one  man  saved  of  all 
those  that  happened  to  fall  into  their  hands.  It  is  notori- 
ously known  how  that  fury  of  theirs  tyrannized  also  over 
the  dead;  some  they  dragged  out  of  their  graves  and  cut 
hi  pieces,  as  at  Zichhn;  others  they  exposed  naked  for  a 
public  spectacle,  as  at  Lesna;  of  which  outrageous  action 
we  had  an  example,  even  in  the  dead  body  of  the  most 
serene  Landgrave  of  Hessia,  which  was  drawn  out  of  the 
grave,  who  was  heretofore  slain  in  a  most  barbarous  and 
tyrannical  manner  at  Koscian,  but  buried  by  our  friends  at 
Lesna.  The  like  was  acted  also  upon  the  body  of  the  most 
noble  Arciszevius,  heretofore  the  valiant  admiral  of  the 
Hollanders  in  Brazil,  which  was  likewise  dragged  out  ol 
the  grave,  and  being  stript  of  the  grave  clothes,  was  found 
after  the  firing  of  Lesna.  There  are  divers  other  ex- 
amples, which  the  Christian  reader  may  find  in  the  book 
entitled  Lesna,  Excidium,  faithfully  written,  and  lately  set 
forth  in  print;  but  they  are  such  examples  only  as  are  com- 
monly known,  for  who  is  able  to  relate  all  things  in  particu- 
lar.'' as  burning  men  alive,  drowning  others  with  stones 
tied  about  their  necks,  &;c. 

Now  Lesna  being  destroyed,  the  fury  of  the  enemy  pro- 
ceeded to  the  persecution  of  others;  they,  in  a  short  time, 
utterly  demolished  all  our  congregations,  not  only  driving 
away  the  pastors,  but  also  either  burning  or  leaving  most 
of  the  temples  desolate,  as  at  Karmin,  Dembnick,  Skochy, 
Czriuczin,  he. ;  yea  and  the  auditories  themselves  were 
either  slain  (as  in  the  town  of  Skochy,  where  there  was 
a  very  flourishing  church  of  the  Bohemian  exiles,  sixty 
persons,  both  men  and  women,  were  cruelly  put  to  death) 


5.ECT.  VII.]  Persecution  of  the  Waldrnses  in  Poland.      375 

or  else  they  were  scattered  abroad,  so  that  there  remained  not 
one  place  wherein  the  worship  of  God  may  be  celebrated. 
Lo,  this  is  the  most  miserable  state  and  condition  of  our 
churches ;  moreover  our  countrymen,  to  the  number  of  five 
thousand,  besides  youths  and  children,   being  dispersed  in 
banishment  (which  hath  now  befallen  most  of  us  the  second 
time)  especially  throughout   Silesia,   as  also  through   the 
Marck,  Lusatia,  Hungary,  &-c.,  find  no  comfort,  but  much 
misery,  and  are  there  exposed  to  the  hatred  and  envy  of 
men.     We  that  are  pastors  dare  not  openly  minister  to  our 
auditories  with  the  word  and   sacraments,^  but  only  in  pri- 
vate meetings,  or  in  woods  among  fenny  places,  God  only 
seeing  us,  who  is  witness  of  these  calamities,  and  our  com- 
fort  in   extremities.      Indeed  being  thus   destitute  of  all 
things,   we  lead  a  wretched    life  in  banishment,  being  af- 
flicted with  hunger  and  nakedness,  and   are   become,   next 
to  the  most  miserable  Waldenses,  the  greatest  spectacle  of 
calamity  to   the  Christian   world,   for   so    it  hath   seemecJ 
good  to  that  sovereign    wisdom  that  governs  all  things, 
that  we  should  be  the  inheritors  of  the  cross  and  persecu- 
tion of  those  men  from  whom  we  have  derived  the  original 
of  our  doctrine  and  external  succession;  for  truly  we  are 
the  remaining  progeny  even  of  the  Waldenses,  v/ith  whona 
being  raised  from   the   ashes  of  blessed   Huss,   and  with 
whom  combining  into  the  same  holy  fellowship  of  the  faith 
and  afflictions  of  Christ,  we  have  for  two  whole  ages  and 
more,  been  perpetually  subject  to  the  like  storms  of  calami- 
ties, until  at  length  we  fell  into  this  calamity,   greater  than 
ever  was  known  in  the  memory  of  our  fathers,  and  which 
threatens  us  with  utter  destruction,  unless  God  prevent  it. 
The  truth  is,  this  business  constrains  us  to  amazement  and 
tears,  greater  than  can  be  expressed  in  words,  to  set  forth 
our  aflliction  and  sorrow.     If  there  be  any  consolation  iu 
Christ,  if  any  comfort  of  love,  if  any  fellowship  of  the 
Spirit,  if  any  bowels  and  mercies,  we  desire  that  this  afllic- 
tion of  Joseph  may  be  recommended,  especially  to  all  diat 
are  of  the  household  of  faith.     Let  them  not  sufier  those 


37G  History  of  the  Christian  Church,         [ch.  vi, 

to  perish  whom  the  same  Spirit  of  Christ  hath  joined  with 
them  in  so  near  a  relation;  we  beseech  them  in  the  name 
of  Christ,  tiiat  they  would  rather  make  haste  to  relieve 
those  who  are  ready  to  perish,  we  being  assured  that  we 
sufl'er  this  persecution  upon  no  other  account,  than  for  the 
confession  of  the  truth,  from  those  enemies  who  have  acted 
such  things  as  these  against  us  in  times  past,  and  are  now 
at  length  by  God's  permission,  pouring  out  their  fury 
upon  us. 

Signed  in  the  name  of  the  said  churches,  by  their  dele- 
gates, and  now  exiles  for  the  cause  of  Christ: 

Adam  Samuel  Hartman,  Pastor  of  the  church  of 
Lesna,  in  Poland,  and  Rector  of  the  famous  Uni- 
versity there. 

Paul  Cyril,  a  late  member  of  the  University  of  Ijysna. 

Of  the  amount  contributed  in  consequence  of  this  second 
appeal  to  the  benevolence  of  our  countrymen,  I  am  unable 
to  give  the  reader  any  specific  information.  The  posture 
of  public  affairs,  in  our  own  country,  now  became  ex- 
tremely critical;  and  the  same  year  (1658)  in  which  these 
laudable  efforts  were  made  in  behalf  of  the  Waldenses, 
both  of  Poland  and  Piedmont,  proved  fatal  to  the  life,  and, 
of  course,  to  the  influence  of  the  Protector.  The  parlia- 
ment proved  refractory,  and,  in  the  spring  of  the  year,  he 
dissolved  them.  Public  discontents  ran  high,  and  a 
pamphlet  made  its  appearance  intitled  "Killing  no  mur- 
der'— the  object  of  which  was  to  prove  that  his  assassina- 
tion would  be  the  discharge  of  a  public  duty.  His  fears 
are  said  to  have  been  excited;  a  slow  fever  ensued,  and 
on  the  3d  of  September  he  died.  Of  the  contributions 
made  in  1655,  thirty  thousand  pounds  had  been  distributed 
among  the  sufferers  in  the  valleys  of  Piedmont,  but  the 
confusion  which  succeeded  on  the  death  of  the  Protector 
occasioned  the  balance,  which  was  nearly  ten  thousand 
pounds,  to  be  withheld  for  a  time,  but  it  was  afterwards 
Yemitted  then). 


SECT.  VIII.]    History  of  the  Waldenses  concluded.  377 

SSCTZON  VIXZ. 

The  History  of  the  Waldejiscs  concluded. 

The  writer  of  the  Apocalypse  informs  us  that,  while  iu 
the  isle  of  Patmos,  he  had  a  vision  of  a  beast  rising  up  out 
of  the  sea,  having  seven  heads  and  ten  horns — and  that 
there  was  given  unto  him  a  mouth  speaking  great  things 
and  blasphemies — and  it  was  also  given  unto  him  to  make 
war  with  the  saints,  and  to  overcome  them :  and  power 
was  given  him  over  all  kindreds,  and  tongues,  and  nations; 
that  all  that  dwell  upon  the  earth  should  worship  him, 
except  those  whose  names  were  written  in  the  slain  Lamb's 
book  of  life,  from  the  foundation  of  the  world.  Rev.  xiii. 
That  this  prophetic  description  was  designed  to  point  out 
the  monstrous  antichristian  proceedings  of  Papal  Rome, 
is  now  scarcely  doubted  by  any,  except  the  members  of 
that  apostate  church :  and  with  how  much  propriety  such 
an  application  of  it  is  made,  may  be  very  safely  left  to  the 
determination  of  those  who  shall  have  impartially  perused 
the  foregoing  narrative.  If  we  calmly  review  the  conduct 
of  the  court  of  Rome  towards  the  Waldenses,  and  mark 
the  savage  ferocity  with  which  they  had  now,  for  several 
successive  centuries,  invariably  pursued  them;  how,  when 
exiled  from  one  country,  they  were  followed  into  another, 
and  that  nothing  short  of  their  total  extirpation  could 
satisfy  the  relentless  cruelty  of  their  adversaries,  we  can 
scarcely  forbear  applying  to  them  the  aflecting  language 
of  the  Psalmist,  "  For  thy  sake  are  we  killed  all  the  day 
long;  we  ai-e  accounted  as  sheep  for  the  slaughter."  Psal. 
xliv.  23.  We  have  seen  that,  whether  in  France,  or  Spain, 
or  in  our  own  country;  in  Bohemia,  Calabria,  or  Poland; 
throughout  Germany  or  the  Netherlands;  in  Italy  or  the 
valleys  of  Piedmont;  one  common  fate  awaited  them,  and 
that  they  never  failed,  sooner  or  later,  to  experience, 
namely,  <'to  be  slain  for  the  word  of  God  and  for  the 


378  Histoty  of  the  Christian  Church.  [ch.  v*. 

testimony  which  ihcy  held."  Rev.  vi.  9.  But  the  crisis  of 
their  affairs  was  now  arrived; — -the  witnesses  who  had  sa 
long,  and  so  nobly  prophesied  in  sackcloth,  before  many 
peoples,  and  nations,  and  tongues,  and  kings,  were  about 
to  finish  their  testimony;  which  having  done,  it  remained 
for  the  "beast  that  ascended  out  of  the  bottomless  pit  to 
make  war  against  them,  and  overcome  them,  and  kill  them." 
Rev.  xi.  3 — 7.  A  glance  at  the  manner  in  which  this  was 
effected  will  occupy  the  present  section,  and  discharge  my 
engagements  to  the  public;  so  far  at  least  as  regards  this 
undertaking. 

The    number  of  the  Waldenses  that  fell  in  the  massa- 
cre of  Piedmont,    in    1655,  is  estimated  by  cotemporary 
writers  at  more  than  six  thousand.*     In  consequence,  how- 
ever, of  the  humane  interference  of  our   own   and  other 
Protestant  states,  the  residue,  as  hath  been  already  stated, 
availed  themselves  of  the  treaty  that  was  signed  by  the 
Duke  of  Savo}',  on  the  9th  of  August,  1655,  to  return  to 
their  dwellings.     But  their  enemies  were  by  no  means  satis- 
fied with  the  measure  of  calamity  which  they  had  dealt 
out  towards  them.     In  the  year   1663,  they  again  came 
forward  with  fire   and  sword,  and  the  atrocities  of  1655 
were  once  more  in  preparation  to   be  reacted.     Having 
found  by  experience  that  to  stand  in  an  attitude  of  self- 
defence  was  the  only  way  left  them  of  saving  themselves, 
the  Waldenses  were  now    constrained  to  take  up    arms, 
which  they  did,  and  defended  themselves  so  bravely,  that 
about  the  end  of  that  ^ear  they  at  least  kept  their  enemies 
at  bay  !     But  the  Swiss  cantons,  ever  alive  to  their  affairs, 
on  this  occasion  again  sent  ambassadors  to  the  court  of 
Turin,  to  mediate   between  the  parties,  and  in  February, 
1664,  a  patent  was  granted  by  the  Duke  of  Savoy,  in  all 
respects  confirming  that  given  in  1655;  but  though   his 
royal  highness  now  personally  engaged  to  see  the  treaty 
carried   into  effect,   it  was  no  better  executed  than  the 

.     *  History  of  the  Persecution  of  tlie  Valleys  of  Piedmont,  p.  4.      J 


SECT.  VIII.]     Patriotic  conduct  of  the  Waldcnses.  379 

former.  The  Waldenses,  however,  persevered,  and  though 
subject  to  innumerable  contumelies  and  very  injurious  treat- 
ment, which  the  rancour  of  the  council  for  propagating  the 
faith  was  continually  inflicting  upon  them,  they  bore  up 
until  the  year  1G72  when  an  event  transpired  that  afi'orded 
them  an  opportunity,  in  a  very  signal  manner,  of  evin- 
cing their  loyalty,  and  of  rendering  essential  services  to 
their  sovereign  and  their  country. 

In  the  year  last  mentioned,  a  war  broke  out  between  the 
Duke  of  Savoy  and  the  Genoese.  The  army  of  the  former 
was  commanded  by  the  Marquis  of  Pionessa,  son  of  tiie 
nobleman  of  that  name  who  nearly  thirty  years  before  had 
taken  so  active  a  part  in  the  massacre  of  the  Waldenses. 
Under  his  management  the  war  with  Genoa  proved  most 
unpropitious,  insomuch  that  the  affairs  of  the  Duke  of  Sa- 
voy were  brought  to  the  brink  of  ruin  :  and,  as  Bishop 
Burnet  assures  us,*  the  duke  was  so  displeased  with  his 
conduct  that  he  never  would  forgive  him,  but  a  little  before 
his  death  actually  enjoined  it  upon  his  mother  never  to  em- 
ploy him  again  !  It  was  at  this  critical  juncture  of  their 
national  affairs  that  the  Waldenses,  forgetting  all  that  was 
past,  voluntarily  came  forward  to  enrol  themselves  in  their 
sovereign's  cause,  and  entered  into  the  war  with  such  zeal 
and  courage,  that  they  soon  retrieved  the  fallen  fortunes  of 
their  country,  and  brought  the  war  to  a  speedy  and  suc- 
cessful termination.  Their  loyal  and  disinterested  beha- 
viour on  this  occasion,  sensibly  affected  the  mind  of  their 
prince,  who  testified  his  approbation  of  their  conduct  in  a 
letter,  of  which  the  following  is  a  copy  : 


*  Burnet's  Letters  from  Italy — Supplerruent  to  ditto,  Lett.  III.  p.  ISi^. 
Edit.  1688. 


380  History  of  the  Christian  Church.        [ch.  vi. 

To  our  most  faithful  suhjects,  the  communities  of  the  valleys 
of  Lucerne,  Perouse,  San  Martin,  and  of  the  districts  of 
Perrustin,  Saint  Bartholomew,  and  Rocheplatte. 

The  Duke  of  Savoy,  Pbince  of  Piedmont,  &cc.  &c. 

Most  dear  and  faithful, 

Forasmuch  as  we  have  been  well  pleased  with  the  zeal 
and  readmess  with  which  you  have  provided  men  who  have 
served  us  to  our  entire  satisfaction,  in  the  affair  we  had 
against  the  Genoese ;  we  have  thought  fit  to  testify  unto 
you  by  these  presents  our  approbation  thereof,  and  to  as- 
sure you,  that  we  shall  keep  it  in  particular  remembrance 
to  make  you  sensible  on  all  occasions,  of  the  effects  of  our 
royal  protection,  whereof  the  Count  Beccaria  shall  give 
you  more  ample  information,  whom  we  have  commanded 
to  express  to  you  our  sentiments  more  at  large,  and  also  to 
fake  a  list  of  the  officers  and  soldiers,  as  well  of  those  that 
are  dead  as  of  those  that  remain  prisoners,  that  he  may  re- 
port the  same  unto  us,  to  the  end  that  we  may  pay  due  re- 
gard thereunto.  In  the  mean-time  these  Presents  shall 
serve  you  for  an  assured  testimony  of  our  satisfaction  and 
good  will  J  and  we  pray  God  to  preserve  you  from  evil. 
Signed  C.  EMANUEL,  Buonfiglio. 

Turin,  November  5,  1672. 

The  following  is  a  copy  of  the  Duke's  letter  to  Count 
Beccaria. 

Trusty  and  well-beloved, 

The  men  whom  the  communities  of  Lucerne,  &;c.,  have 
provided,  have  served  us  so  faithfully,  that,  being  desirous 
of  testifying  unto  them  our  satisfaction  therewith,  we  have 
sent  you  a  letter  herein  inclosed,  which  we  have  written  to 
them,  to  the  end  that  you  may  deliver  it  to  them,  and  also 
express  more  fully  the  good  will  that  we  bear  to  them  on 


SECT.  VIII.]         Reign  of  Victor  Amadeus  IT.  381 

that  account ;  and  lliat  you  may  assui*e  them,  that  when- 
soever any  tlung  shall  happen  that  may  tend  to  their  ad- 
vantage we  will  particularly  remember  their  aflection.  And 
on  this  occasion  you  shall  take  a  list  of  the  officers  and 
soldiers,  as  well  of  those  that  are  dead  as  of  those  that  are 
prisoners,  and  make  a  report  of  the  same  unto  us,  that  we 
may  pay  a  suitable  regard  to  such  ;  and  refering  to  you 
for  what  may  be  said  further  in  token  of  the  satisfaction  we 
have  received,  no  less  by  their  zeal  and  readiness,  than  by 
the  good  services  which  their  officers  and  soldiers  have 
rendered  us  ;  we  pray  our  Lord  to  preserve  you. 

Signed  C.  EMANUEL. 

Turirif  JVovember  5,  1672. 

To  Monsieur  Count  Beccaria,  Counsellor  of  State. 

In  scrupulous  conformity  with  the  tenor  of  these  letters 
the  duke  continued  to  the  time  of  his  death,  which  happen- 
ed in  1675,  to  favour  the  VValdenses  with  tokens  of  his 
kindness;  and,  even  after  his  decease,  the  dutchess,  his 
widow,  followed  his  example,  treating  them  with  great  gen- 
tleness and  goodness;  and,  in  the  year  1679,  she  pledged 
herself,  in  a  letter  to  the  Swiss  Cantons,  dated  28th  Ja- 
nuary, to  maintain  the  Waldenses  in  the  undisturbed  exer- 
cise of  their  religious  privileges. 

Victor  Amadeus  II.  was  a  minor  at  the  time  of  his 
father's  deaUi,  though  he  inherited  the  title  of  Duke  of 
Savoy.  The  government  of  Piedmont  was,  consequently, 
during  this  interval  of  ten  years,  vested  in  the  hands  of  his 
mother,  the  widow  of  the  late  Charles  Emanuel  II.,  who 
acted  as  regent  until  the  year  1685,  when  Victor  Amadeus 
arrived  at  maturity;  and  it  appears  to  have  been  a  season 
of  tranquillity  to  the  churches  throughout  the  valleys.  It 
is  a  remarkable  circumstance  that  both  father  and  son  were 
poisoned !  The  former,  indeed,  fell  a  sacrifice  to  this 
base  and  treacherous  act,  but  the  youth  of  the  son  carried 

Vot.  II,  3  D 


382  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [ch.  vi. 

him  through  it.*  It  was  the  misfortune  of  this  young 
prince,  however,  to  become  connected  by  marriage,  with 
Louis  XIV,  king  of  France,  one  of  the  most  detestable  and 
sanguinary  tyrants  that  ever  sat  upon  a  throne  ;  and  who, 
as  we  shall  presenti}'  see,  compelled  him,  in  defiance  of  his 
own  inclination  and  judgment,  to  extirpate  the  Waldenses 
from  his  dominions.  "  There  is  nothing  more  visible," 
says  Bishop  Burnet,  writing  at  the  very  time,  "  than  that 
the  Dukes  of  Savoy  have  sunk  extremely  in  this  age,  from 
the  figure  which  they  made  in  the  last ;  and  how  much  so- 
ever they  have  raised  their  titular  dignity  in  having  the  title 
Royal  Highness  given  them,  they  have  lost  as  much  in  the 
figure  which  they  made  in  the  affairs  of  Europe. — The 
truth  is,  the  vanity  of  this  title  and  the  expensive  humour 
which  their  late  marriages  with  France  has  spread  among 
them,  have  ruined  them;  for  instead  of  keeping  good 
troops  and  strong  places,  all  the  revenue  goes  to  keeping 
up  the  magnificence  of  the  court,  which  is  certainly  very 
splendid."!  Of  the  justice  and  pertinency  of  these 
observations  the  reader  will  find  abundant  proof  in  the 
sequel. 

During  the  reign  of  Louis  XIII.  the  Protestants  had 
multiplied  in  France  to  such  an  extent,  that,  at  the  period 
of  his  death,  A.  D.  1643,  they  were  computed  to  exceed 
two  millions.  Their  religious  privileges  had  been  guaran- 
teed to  them  by  the  well  known  edict  of  Nantz,  Louis 
XIV.  was  only  five  years  of  age  when  his  father  died,  and, 
of  course,  the  queen  mother  was  appointed  sole  regent 
during  his  minority.  When  the  young  king  came  of  age, 
in  1652,  the  edict  of  Nantz  was  again  confirmed.  But  his 
prime  minister.  Cardinal  Mazarine,  with  his  confessors  and 
clergy,  were  continually  impressing  his  mind  with  the  ex- 
pedien(!y  of  revoking  that  edict;  and  when  the  manage- 
ment of  aflairs  devolved  upon  his  own  liands,  in  1661,  he 

*  Bishop  Burnet's  Supplementary  Letters  from  Italy,  p.  161. 
f  Ibid.  p.  162. 


SECT.  VI II.]  Cruelties  of  Louis  XIV.  383 

resolved  to  effect  the  destruction  of  the  Protestants.     In 
prosecution  of  this  design  he  began  by  exckiding  the  Cai- 
vinists  from  his  househohl,  and  from   all  places  of  profit 
and  trust.     He  next   caused   several  laws  to  be  passed  in 
favour  of  the  Catholic  religion.     Then  rigorous  methods 
were    adopted  to  compel  the  Calvinists   to   change   their 
rchgion — their  places  of  worship  were   shut   up — and  at 
length,  October  22,  1 685,  he  revoked  the  edict  of  Nantz, 
and  banished  them  from  the  kingdom.     The  cruelties  that 
were  inflicted  upon  them  at  this  time,  if  possible,  surpass 
in  atrocity  any  thing  that  is  to  be  found  in  the  persecutions 
of  the  first  Christians  by  the  Heathen,     "They  cast  some," 
says  Monsieur  Claude,  "  into   large  fires,  and   took  them 
out  when   they  were   half  roasted.     They  hanged   others 
with  ropes  under  their  arms,  and  plunged  them  several  times 
into  wells,  till  they  promised   to  renounce  their   religion. 
They  tied  them  like  criminals  on  the  rack,  and  by  means 
of  a  funnel,  poured  wine  into  their  mouths,  till,  being  in- 
toxicated, they  declared,  that  they  consented   to  turn  Ca- 
tholics.    Some  they  cut  and  slashed  with  penknives,  others 
they  took  up  by  the  nose  with  red  hot  tongs,  and  led  them 
up  and  down  the  rooms  till  they  promised  to  turn  Catho- 
lics."     These    cruel    proceedings   caused    eight    hundred 
thousand  persons  to  quit  the  kingdom. 

The  tranquillity  of  the  Waldenses  in  Piedmont  was  now 
first  invaded  by  a  proclamation  issued  by  the  governor  of 
the  valleys,  about  the  end  of  the  year  1685,  ordering  that 
no  stranger  should  come  and  continue  in  die  valleys  above 
three  days,  without  his  permission,  on  pain  of  being  se- 
verely punished.  This  seemed  mysterious,  but  it  was  soon 
unravelled  by  the  intelligence  which  presently  arrived  of 
the  dreadful  proceedings  against  the  French  Protestants; 
for  they  immediately  saw  that  it  was  intended  to  prevent 
them  from  giving  an  asylum  to  any  of  the  unhappy  exiles  j 
yet  they  little  apprehended  the  dreadful  tempest  that  was 
gathering  around  themselves. 


384  History  of  the  Christian  Church.        [ch.  vi. 

On  the  31st  of  January  IGSG,  they  were  amazed  at  the 
publication  of  an  order  from  the  Duke  of  Savoy,  forbidding 
his  subjects  the  exercise  of  the  Protestant  religion  upon 
pain  of  death;  the  confiscation  of  their  goods;  the  demo- 
lition of  their  churches ;  and  the  banishment  of  their  pas- 
tors. All  infants  born  from  that  time,  were  to  be  baptized 
and  brought  up  in  the  Roman  Catholic  religion,  under  the 
penalty  of  their  fathers  being  condemned  to  the  galleys!* 
Their  consternation  was  now  extreme.  Hitherto  the  treaty 
which  secured  to  them  the  free  exercise  of  their  religion 
had  been  guaranteed  b}'  the  kings  of  France ;  but  they 
were  now  given  to  understand  that  the  Duke  of  Savoy,  in 
all  these  intolerant  measures,  was  only  fulfilling  the  wishes 
of  that  monarch  ;  and,  to  crown  the  whole,  the  latter  had 
marched  an  army  to  the  confines  of  Piedmont,  to  see  the 
order  of  the  duke  properly  executed.  In  this  truly  afl'ect- 
ing  condition,  their  first  step  was,  by  submission,  and  en- 
treaty, to  soften  the  heart  of  their  sovereign.  Four  dif- 
ferent applications  were  addressed  to  him,  beseeching  him 
to  revoke  this  cruel  order :  the  only  advantage  they  reaped 
was  a  suspension  of  the  impending  calamity  until  their 
enemies  were  better  prepared  to  execute  it  with  effect. 

Their  old  and  tried  friends  the  Swiss  cantons,  being 
informed  of  this  state  of  things,  convened  a  Diet  at  Baden, 
in  the  month  of  February,  1686,  at  which  it  was  resolved 
to  send  ambassadors  to  the  Duke  of  Savoy  to  intercede 
for  the  Waldenses ;  and  early  in  the  following  month  they 
arrived  at  Turin,  where  they  delivered  in  their  propositions 
relating  to  the  revocation  of  the  order  of  the  31st  of  Janu- 
ary. They  showed  his  highness  that  they  were  interested 
in  the  aflair,  not  only  as  the  brethren  of  the  Waldenses,  but 
also  in  virtue  of  the  treaties  of  1655  and  1664,  which  were 
the  fruits  of  their  mediation,  and  which  this  new  order  an- 
nulled.    The  court  of  Turin  admitted  the  plea;  but  con- 

*  See  Appendix,  No-  I. 


bECT.  viii.]    Pleas  of  the  Swiss  for  the  Waldenses.         385 

tented  themselves  with  telling  the  ambassadors,  that  the 
engagements  which  the  duke  had  recently  entered  into  « ith 
the  King  of  France  opposed  the  success  oi'  their  negotia- 
tion. The  Swiss  ainbassadors  gave  in  a  memorial,  and 
urged  a  variety  of  pleas;  in  all  which  they  were  supported 
by  letters  from  many  Protestant  princes  in  behalf  of  the 
Waldenses.  They  pleaded  that  the  predecessors  of  his 
royal  highness  had  pledged  tliemselves  to  many  of  the  po- 
tentates of  Europe,  and  particularly  to  tlie  cantons  of 
Switzerland,  to  observe  the  privileges  which  had  been 
granted  to  the  Protestant  inhabitants  of  tiie  valleys:  and 
argued  that  such  formal  and  authenticated  engagements 
ought  to  stand  good;  for  that  the  imnmnities  which  iiad 
been  secured  to  them  by  letters  patent,  were  not  to  be  re- 
garded merely  in  the  light  of  matters  of  momentary  tolera- 
tion, but  as  perpetual  grants  and  irrevocable  laws:  that 
having  been  granted  at  the  intercession  of  many  sovereign 
princes,  they  must,  according  to  the  laws  of  nations,  be 
regarded  as  monuments  of  the  public  faith :  and  that  the 
promises  of  princes  ought  to  be  maintained  sacred  and 
inviolable.  They  also  endeavoured  to  show,  by  arguments 
deduced  from  maxims  of  state  policy,  that  the  Duke  of  Sa- 
voy acted  against  his  own  interest  in  these  cruel  proceed- 
ings; and  that  even  from  a  regard  to  those,  he  should  con- 
tinue the  Waldenses  in  their  ancient  privileges — that  the 
laws  of  justice  and  motives  of  clemency  should  prevent 
him  from  subjecting  his  country  to  fire  and  sword  and 
desolation;  for  that  he  was  about  to  ruin  a  harmless  and 
innocent  people,  who  had  done  nothing  that  could  deser- 
vedly entitle  them  to  the  efl'ects  of  this  inhuman  order.  But 
neither  the  reasoning  of  the  ambassadors,  nor  their  own 
pressing  solicitations,  nor  the  letters  of  intercession  which 
had  been  presented  in  their  behalf  from  many  other  Pro- 
testant princes,  could  avail  any  thing  with  the  court  of 
Turin.*     The  Marquis  of  Saint  Thomas,  to  whom  they 

*  See  Appeudix,  No.  2. 


386  History  of  the  Christian  Church.        [ch.  vi. 

delivered  their  memorial,  and  who  was  one  of  the  duke's 
ministers  of  state  for  foreign  affairs,  returned  an  answer  in 
a  few  days,  stating  that  his  royal  highness  was  sorry  that 
he  was  not  in  a  capacity  to  grant  what  they  desired  in  their 
own  and  in  the  name  of  their  masters — that  he  had  far 
stronger  reasons  for  enforcing  this  edict,  tl)an  they  had 
given  him  to  revoke  it;  and  that  he  could  not  so  much  as 
mitigate  it;  that  the  great  wheels  moved  and  carried  the  lit- 
tle ones  along  with  them, — that  having  for  his  neighbour  a 
prince  equally  powerful  and  jealous  of  his  honour,  he  was 
obliged  to  carry  himself  with  great  circumspection,  and  to 
act  according  to  the  exigencies  of  the  times,  just  as  in  Swit- 
zerland they  were  sometimes  compelled  by  the  turn  of  their 
affairs,  to  take  certain  resolutions  contrary  to  the  good  in- 
tentions they  might  otherwise  have.  In  short,  the  duke 
was  too  far  engaged — the  troops  which  he  had  raised,  at  a 
great  expense,  were  already  in  motion — that  the  edict  could 
not  be  revoked  without  wounding  his  royal  highness's  repu- 
tation;— that  he  was  forced  to  see  it  executed  for  very  cogent 
reasons,  on  which  the  ambassadors  might  make  their  own 
reflections.  He  added  that  the  grants  of  1655  and  1664, 
were  a  mere  toleration,  and  that  the  Waldenses  had  no 
positive  right  to  exercise  their  religious  profession — that 
sovereigns  do  no  injustice  in  refusing  to  allow  more  than 
one  religion  in  a  country,  and  that  the  Swiss  cantons  them- 
selves justified  the  conduct  of  his  royal  highness,  by  not 
enduring  Roman  Catholics  among  them.  Besides,  the 
concessions  granted  to  the  Waldenses  had  been  legally 
examined,  and  it  was  agreed,  that  the  concessions  and  fa- 
vours which  a  prince  grants  to  his  subjects,  he  is  at  liberty 
to  revoke  at  pleasure — that  his  royal  highness  prohibited 
nothing  to  the  Waldenses  but  the  exercise  of  their  rehgious 
profession,  but  that  he  in  no  respects  intended  to  force  their 
consciences ! 

The  ambassadors  in  reply,  told  the  Marquis  of  St. 
Thomas,  that  however  strong  his  royal  highness's  reasons 
were  to  consent  to  his  edict  of  January  last,  they  could  not 


SECT,  viii.]    Pleas  of  the  Swiss  for  the  Waldenses.         387 

annul  those  that  necessarily  engaged  him  to  observe  the 
promises  given  before  this  edict.  That  some  considerations 
of  state  ought  not  to  dispense  a  prince  from  performing  liis 
word,  especially  if  he  entered  into  this  engagement  by  the 
mediation  of  another  sovereign ;  and  that  whereas  the  pa- 
tents and  concessions  granted  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  val- 
leys had  been  acquired  by  the  intercession  of  several  kings, 
princes,  and  states,  and,  in  particular,  of  their  excellencies 
the  Protestant  cantons,  and  confa-med  by  his  royal  high- 
ness, he  could  allege  nothing  sufficient  to  discharge  him 
from  the  obligation  of  seeing  them  punctually  observed; 
and  the  rather,  because  these  patents  have  been  enrolled  by 
the  parliament  of  Savoy;  and  that  the  enrolling  of  the 
ytar  1620  alone,  had  cost  the  churches  of  the  valleys  six 
thousand  crowns. 

They  urged  that  the  concessions  granted  by  the  prede- 
cessoi-s  of  his  royal  highness  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  val- 
leys, did  acquire  them  an  incontestable  right,  which  they 
could  not  lose  but  by  an  enormous  crime,  and  by  a  rebel- 
lion against  their  lawful  sovereign ;  and  that,  far  from  being 
gifilty  of  any  want  of  their  duty,  they  could' produce  a  let- 
ter of  his  royal  highness's,  of  the  2d  of  September,  1684, 
which  is  an  authentic  and  glorious  proof  of  their  fidelity, 
and  inviolable  adherence  which  they  had  always  shown  to 
their  prince's  interest.  That  if,  after  the  publication  of  the 
last  edict,  some  particular  persons  amongst  them  had  taken 
up  arms,  they  had  not  done  it  to  make  use  of  them  against 
their  sovereign,  but  only  to  defend  themselves  against  those 
that,  abusing  his  authority,  had  undertaken  to  attack  and 
insult  them;  and  that  in  case  there  had  been  some  disor- 
ders committed,  those  that  were  the  authors  ought  to  be 
punished;  but  that  it  ought  not  to  be  imputed  to  the  whole 
body  of  the  churches  of  the  valleys,  that  were  in  no  respects 
guilty  of  it. 

They  insisted  that  the  prince  was  equally  obliged  to 
execute  the  promises  he  had  made  to  his  subjects,  as  those 


388  History  of  the  Chrislian  Church.  [ch.  vi. 

that  regarded  persons  that  are  in  no  manner  under  his 
submission.  That  such  obligations  were  grounded  upon 
public  faith  and  honour,  which  ought  to  rule  in  all  trea- 
ties of  sovereigns,  without  distinction ;  that  if  it  were  allow- 
able to  fail  in  what  they  had  solemnly  promised  to  their 
people,  it  would  be  impossible  to  terminate  diflerences  that 
should  arise  between  them,  or  to  appease  the  troubles  that 
might  Imppen  in  their  state;  and  that.two  parties  making 
war  on  one  another,  would  never  end  their  quarrels,  but 
by  the  total  ruin  of  one  of  them. 

They  added  to  this,  that  sovereigns  had  reason  to  em- 
ploy their  utmost  endeavours  to  unite  their  subjects  in  the 
same  religion ;  but  that  to  effect  it,  they  ought  not  to  vio- 
late treaties  which  had  been  formerly  made  with  them. 
That  all  that  was  allowed  them  in  such  a  case,  was,  to 
employ  instruction  and  exhortation,  and  all  the  winning 
ways  of  sweetness,  that  are  calculated  to  make  truth  enter 
into  the  minds  of  their  people,  to  enlighten  their  under- 
standings, and  to  move  them  to  embrace,  with  good  will, 
the  true  religion:  but  that  which  deserved  a  particular 
consideration  in  this  contest  is,  that  the  inhabitants  of  the 
valleys  did  not  hold  by  the  concessions  of  their  princes  the 
liberty  to  exercise  in  public  their  religion;  because  it  was 
established  in  this  country  above  eight  centuries  ago;  and 
that  they  enjo3ed  this  right  long  before  they  were  the 
subjects  of  his  royal  highness's  ancestors;  insomuch  that 
having  never  been  of  the  same  religion  as  their  prince,  it 
could  not  be  said  tliat  they  had  abandoned  it,  nor  he  oblige 
them  to  return  to  it. 

These  reasons,  and  many  others  which  were  adduced, 
were  so  strong,  that  the  ambassadors  hoped  they  would 
have  some  effect  on  his  royal  highness's  mind;  and  that 
the  Marquis  of  St.  Thomas  would  be  pleased  to  make 
them  known  to  him,  and  employ  the  credit  which  he  had 
with  him,  to  obtain  the  revoking  of  an  edict  which,  without 
doubt,  he  had  thought  to  be  just,  and  which  he  would  not 


SECT,  vni.]    Phos  of  the  Swiss  for  the  Waldenses.         3S9 

have  published,  if  he  had  been  persuaded  that  it  was  con- 
trary to  what  a  just  and  equitable  sovereign  owes  to  his 
faithful  subjects. 

But  they  did  not  merely  content  themselves  in  repre- 
senting;^ the  rig:ht  of  the  Piedmontese  churches,  and  sup- 
porting it  by  solid  reasons ;  for  they  employed  several  days 
in  soliciting  all  the  ministers  of  his  royal  highness,  and  all 
persons  they  judged  capable  of  contributing  to  the  success 
of  their  embassy:  above  all  they  stuck  close  to  the  Mar- 
quis of  St.  Thomas,  as  one  upon  whom  depended  all  the 
good  and  all  the  evil  they  could  expect  in  this  aii'air;  and 
if  we  may  judge  of  things  by  appearance,  the  pains  they 
took  to  dispose  him  to  be  favourable  to  them,  were  not 
altogether  unsuccessful.  For  he  protested  upon  oath,  that 
he  had  laid  before  his  royal  highness  the  contents  of  the 
reply  which  he  had  been  charged  to  present  to  him;  that 
he  had  done  all  he  could  to  make  him  sensible  of  the  reasons 
they  made  use  of  to  obtain  the  revoking  of  the  edict;  but 
that  the  juncture  of  aifairs  was  the  cause  that  he  could 
not  persuade  his  royal  highness  to  grant  them  their  requests. 
"Nevertheless,"  added  he,  "whereas  the  prince's  troops 
are  not  yet  upon  the  march,  the  inhabitants  of  the  valleys 
ma}'  make  a  show  as  if  they  were  willing  to  execute  the 
edict,  because  that  such  a  conduct  is  not  contrary  to  the 
maxims  of  your  religion,  and  by  these  means  they  will 
disarm  the  prince,  and  the}^  may  find  afterwards  some  means 
to  prevent  the  evils  they  are  threatened  with." 

"  Our  doctrine,"  answered  the  ambassadors,  "  does  in  no 
respect  countenance  the  dissembling  of  our  faith,  or  oblige 
us  to  profess  before  men  the  truth  whereof  our  hearts  are 
not  persuaded.  But  this  is  not  our  business  at  present;  the 
question  is  to  know  whether  his  royal  highness  could 
lawfully  revoke  the  concessions  granted  to  the  churches 
of  the  valleys.  For  as  they  are  engagements  into  which  he 
has  entered  by  the  mediation  of  several  sovereigns,  and 
amongst  others,  by  that  of  the  Swiss  cantons,  our  sovereign 

Vol.  11.  3  E 


ii90  Uistory  of  the  Christian  Church.  [ch.  vi. 

lords,  it  is  evident  that  notliiug  can  warrant  him  in  break- 
ing them." 

In  answer  to  all  these  pleas,  the  ministers  of  the  prince 
gave  the  ambassadors  to  understand,  that  the  council  of 
state  having  examined  them,  judged  they  were  not  strong 
enough  to  hinder  the  prince  from  publishing  his  edict 
against  his  subjects  of  the  valleys ;  and  that  supposing  the 
edict  should  really  cause  some  inconvenience  to  his  royal 
highness,  he  would  nevertheless  not  desist  from  it,  for  fear 
a  change  of  this  nature  should  be  injurious  to  his  authority; 
and  that  endeavouring  to  preserve  some  of  his  subjects^  he 
might  run  the  hazard  to  lose  them  all.  And  though  the 
ministers  wished  to  be  thought  firm  in  their  sentiments, 
and  to  show  they  were  not  convinced  of  the  justice  of  the 
demands  the  ambassadors  made,  it  was  well  known  that 
they  defended  the  edict  against  their  own  opinion ;  for  one 
of  them  frankly  confessed,  that  his  royal  highness's  coun- 
sellors had  not  properly  examined  the  concessions  of  the 
years  165.5  and  1664,  and  that  if  they  had  made  the  ne- 
cessary reflections  on  them,  they  would  never  have  advised 
the  prince  to  revoke  them ;  but  he  assured  them  that  the 
evil  was  now  without  remedy,  and  that  all  the  solicitations 
of  the  ambassadors,  to  oblige  the  prince  to  change  his  will, 
would  be  in  vain;  indeed,  one  of  the  ministers  frankly  con- 
fessed, that  the  prince  was  not  master  of  this  affair,  and  that 
they  executed  at  Turin  those  orders  that  were  given  at 
Versailles. 

This  honest  confession  convinced  the  ambassadors  that 
all  their  solicitations  would  produce  no  effect;  therefore, 
seeing  it  would  be  impossible  for  them  to  obtain  the  revo- 
cation of  the  edict,  they  thought  fit,  according  to  the 
chief  head  of  their  instructions,  to  demand  that  which 
related  to  the  second  article  of  the  orders  which  they  had 
received  from  their  sovereigns,  viz.  to  procure  the  inhabi- 
tants of  the  valleys  the  means  of  retreating  somewhere  else, 
and  of  disposing  of  their  goods  as  they  should  think  fit. 


SECT,  viii.]  .      Failure  of  the  Negotiation.  391 

But  as  their  instruction  was,  to  make  no  proposals  to 
the  court  of  Turin,  on  this  point,  except  with  the  consent 
of  the  inhabitant's  of  the  valleys,  they  told  the  Marquis  of 
St.  Thomas  that  having,  for  several  reasons,  entertained 
no  correspondence  with  them,  they  were  willing  to  take  a 
journey  into  the  valleys,  to  inform  themselves  exactly  of  the 
disposition  of  the  people,  and  when  acquainted  with  their 
inionlions,  to  make  some  overtures  of  a  new  negotiation. 
But  the\  gave  him  to  understand,  at  the  same  time,  they 
would  by  no  means  undertake  the  journey,  except  with  his 
royal  highness's  full  consent. 

The  Marquis  of  St.  Thomas,  having  acquainted  his  royal 
highness  with  the  design  of  the  ambassadors,  sent  them 
word  that  he  approved  of  their  intentions,  and  that  he 
would  give  orders  to  the  governor  of  Lucerne  to  do  them 
all  the  honour,  and  to  show  them  all  the  respect,  that  was 
due  to  their  character. 

When  the  ambassadors  arrived  in  the  valleys,  they  ac- 
quainted all  the  communities  with  their  arrival,  who  dis- 
patched immediately  two  deputies  and  two  ministers  to 
them,  to  whom  they  represented,  that  they-  had  employed 
their  utmost  endeavours  to  cause  the  edict  of  the  31st  day 
of  January  to  be  revoked,  but  that  all  their  pleading  had 
been  unsuccessful :  that  it  had  been  given  them  to  under- 
stand, that  his  royal  highness  was  so  much  engaged  with 
one  of  the  most  powerful  monarchs  in  the  world,  that  it  was 
impossible  for  him  to  break  it:  and  that  he  was  resolved 
to  use  all  his  endeavours  to  unite  his  subjects  in  the  same 
religion,  as  he  had  promised  to  do. 

There  were,  therefore,  no  hopes  left  of  obtaining  the 
revocation  of  the  orders  that  had  been  given  against  them. 
That  their  sovereign  lords  had  commanded  them,  in  case 
his  royal  highness  should  persist  in  his  resolution  to  exe- 
cute his  edict,  that  they  should  demand  his  permission  to 
give  them  leave  to  retreat  out  of  his  territories,  and  to  dis- 
pose of  their  goods;  but  that  they  were  unwilling  to  enter 
into  any  negotiation  upon  this  article,  without  being  first 


392  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [ch.  rr, 

informed  of  their  intentions  about  it.  That,  therefore,  they 
should  assemble  to  deliberate  serioush'  about  so  important 
an  affair,  and  acquaint  them  afterwards  what  they  desired 
of  them  in  the  present  juncture. 

The  deputies  and  ministers  having  conferred  together 
about  this  proposition,  before  they  resolved  upon  any  thnig, 
they  entreated  the  ambassadors  to  as^ist  them  with  their 
best  advice  and  prudent  counsel.  But  the  ambassadors 
declined  to  advise  them  in  so  intricate  a  business,  tellmg 
them  they  were  better  acquainted  with  their  own  forces ; 
with  the  situation  of  the  places  where  they  intended  to  in- 
trench themselves;  with  then^  ammunition  and  provisions, 
than  they  vvere ;  and  that  therefore,  they  themselves  could 
adopt  the  best  measures  about  it. 

The  ministers  and  deputies  finding  that  they  could  not 
agree  amongst  themselves,  and  that,  besides,  it  was  a  busi- 
ness which  could  not  be  decided  but  by  their  commonalties  ; 
told  the  ambassadors,  that  the  case  in  question  being  of  the 
greatest  importance,  they  could  take  no  resolutions  about 
it  without  having  first  assembled  all  their  commonalties  to 
consult  upon  it,  and  they  promised  to  bring  them  to  Turin 
their  last  resolutions,  provided  they  could  get  passports  for 
them. 

The  ambassadors  returned  to  Turin,  and  informed  the 
iVlarquis  of  St.  Thomas  of  the  success  of  their  journe}', 
who  assitred  them  that  this  negotiation  was  very  agreeable 
to  the  court.  They  then  demanded  a  safecondnct,  that 
some  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  valleys  might  have  liberty  to 
come  and  bring  the  deliberations  that  should  be  taken  in 
this  assembly  :  but  it  was  refused  under  two  pretences ; 
one  was,  that  the  Duke  of  Savoy  would  not  permit  that 
any  VValdenses  should  appear  at  his  court ;  the  other  was, 
that  he  designed  to  do  nothing  in  this  affair  but  only  for 
the  sake  of  the  ambassadors.  They  were  forced,  therefore, 
to  send  the  secretary  of  the  embassy  into  the  valleys  to 
fetch  these  deliberations.  This  secretary  found  the  com- 
munities assembled  at  Angrogne,  the  28th  of  March,  very 


SECT.  VIII.]       Perfidious  conduct  of  the  court.  393 

mucJi  unresolved  what  course  to  take  ;  for,  on  one  side, 
they  saw  the  lamentable  consequences  ol"  war  ;  on  the  otiier 
side,  the  dangers  and  almost  insurmountable  difficulties  in 
the  execution  of  their  retreat.  Besides,  although  they 
might  depart  without  danger,  they  could  not  contemplate, 
but  with  extreme  regret,  the  hardship  of  being  forced  to 
abandon  their  goods  and  native  country  to  go  into  a 
foreign  land  to  lead  a  miserable,  disconsolate,  and  wander- 
ing sort  of  life.  At  last  they  resolved  to  send  a  memorial 
to  the  ambassadors,  stating  the  dangers  and  difficulties  that 
obstructed  their  departure,  and  wrote  a  letter  to  them 
signed  by  nine  ministers  and  eight  laymen,  in  which,  after 
having  entreated  them  to  reflect  on  these  obstacles,  they  de- 
clared, that  they  would  refer  the  whole  to  their  prudence 
and  conduct.  Upon  receiving  this  letter  the  ambassadors 
made  it  their  business  to  obtain  permission  for  the  VVal- 
denses  to  retire  out  of  the  estates  of  Piedmont,  and  to  make 
sales  of  their  goods  ;  but  the  Duke  of  Savoy,  to  whom 
this  proposition  was  referred,  answered,  that  before  he 
would  return  any  reply  thereto,  he  expected  that  the  com- 
munities of  the  valleys  should  send  deputies  to  him  with 
full  power  to  make  those  submissions  that  were  due  to  him, 
and  to  heg  leave  to  depart  out  of  his  territories,  as  a  pe- 
culiar favour  that  they  should  implore  of  their  prince. 
The  ambassadors  had  reason  to  be  surprised  at  this  pream- 
ble. They  had  denied  them  the  safeconduct  that  they  had 
demanded  for  the  coming  of  the  deputies  of  the  valleys  to 
Turin.  They  had  assured  them  several  times,  that  if  they 
should  grant  to  the  Waldenses  leave  to  retreat,  it  was  only 
upon  the  account  and  at  the  intercession  of  the  ambassa- 
dors :  nevertheless,  they  would  by  no  means  have  it  said, 
that  the  ambassadors  desired  permission  for  them  to  depart, 
on  their  own  behalf;  but,  on  the  contrary,  that  it  was  the 
Waldenses  themselves  that  made  this  request.  This  altera- 
tion was  not  without  cause,  and  it  was  not  for  nothing  that 
they  now  adopted  measures  altogether  different  from  the 
former.     The  council  of  the  propagation  who  managed 


394  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [ch.  vi, 

this  aft'air.  had  without  doubt  respect  to  these  two  several 
points  ;  one  was,  that  they  wotdd  not  have  the  ambassiidors 
named  in  the  permission  of  departure,  to  the  end  that  they 
should  have  the  less  right  to  demand  the  execution  of  those 
things  that  should  be  promised  to  the  Waldenses  ;  the  other, 
that  the  Waldenses  themselves  desiring  this  permission  as 
a  favour,  they  might  be  at  liberty  to  impose  on  them  what 
conditions  they  pleased  ;  and  lastly,  that  the  Waldenses 
making  those  submissions  that  the  duke  required  of  them, 
must  needs  be  in  the  state  of  supplicants,  and  would,  by 
consequence,  be  forced  to  lay  down  their  arms ;  otherwise 
they  could  not  be  in  the  condition  of  petitioners.  But 
however  it  were,  the  ambassadors,  willing  to  take  away 
every  pretext  from  the  enemies  of  the  Waldenses,  took  a 
safeconduct  to  bring  up  the  deputies  whom  they  had  de- 
manded :  they  sent  this  safeconduct  into  the  valleys  by 
the  secretary  of  the  embassy,  who  caused  the  communities 
to  be  assembled  to  nominate  their  deputies.  But  as,  on 
the  one  hand,  there  were  many  who  never  engaged  in  the 
design  of  departing ;  and  that,  on  the  other,  the  new 
marches  of  their  enemies  appeared  suspicious,  the  commu- 
nities were  not  all  of  one  mind,  nor  the  orders  they  gave 
to  their  respective  deputies  conformable  one  with  another. 
For  the  tenor  of  some  was  to  beg  leave  to  depart  and  to 
sell  their  goods ;  while  others  required  the  maintenance  of 
the  exercise  of  their  religion  and  their  other  rights.  These 
deputies  being  arrived  at  Turin,  the  ambassadors  thought 
it  not  convenient  for  them  to  appear  at  court  thus  divided  ; 
but  sent  them  back  into  the  valleys  to  endeavour  a  union 
between  themselves,  and  laboured  in  the  mean-time  to  ob- 
tain a  truce  for  them.* 

Their  enemies  heard,  with  great  satisfaction,  that  the 
communities  were  divided  among  themselves  upon  the  point 
of  departing ;  they  were  so  well  persuaded  that  this  division 
would   be  an  iufalUble  means  to  destroy  them,  that  they 

'■'*  S«e  Appendix,  No.  VII. 


SECT.  VIII.]  A  new  edict  issued.  .395 

caused  it  to  be  carried  on  and  fomented,  by  perfidious  per- 
sons whom  they  had  gained  for  that  purpose.  It  is  also  to 
be  presumed,  that  they  never  had  proposed  the  expedient 
of  departing,  but  with  a  prospect  that  it  might  be  the  occa- 
sion of  the  disunion  of  the  VValdenses.  To  take  advan- 
tage, therefore,  of  the  various  dispositions  of  the  commu- 
nities, their  enemies  changed  their  minds  once  more.  They 
had  lately  declared^  that  they  expected,  in  the  first  place, 
that  the  Waldenses  should  themselves  desire  permission  to 
depart,  and  should  make  their  submissions  thereon.  The 
Waldenses  had  not  made  this  request  nor  these  submis- 
sions :  several  of  the  communities  were  not  of  the  opinion 
to  retire  :  the  ambassadors  did  not  solicit  any  longer  u 
permission  to  depart,  but  a  truce,  as  appears  by  a  letter 
which  they  wrote  to  the  Marquis  of  St.  Thomas,  the  8th 
of  April,  1686.  In  the  mean-time,  notwithstanding  all  this. 
to  accomplish  absolutely  the  division  of  the  Waldenses, 
and  consequently  to  ruin  them  with  the  greater  ease,  they 
published,  unknown  to  the  ambassadors,  an  edict,  dated 
the  9th  of  the  same  month  of  April,  granting  to  the  Wal- 
denses an  amnesty,  and  permission  to  retire  out  of  the 
state  of  Piedujont.* 

This  edict  was  published  in  the  valleys  the  11th  of  April, 
the  same  day  on  which  the  ambassadors  wrote  a  letter  to  the 
same  effect  to  some  of  the  communities  to  know  their  reso- 
lution. In  the  mean-time  they  gave  in  a  very  pressing  me- 
morial to  the  Marquis  of  St.  Thomas,  to  obtain  some  assu- 
rance that  the  troops  should  not  enter  into  the  valleys,  and 
to  gain  for  the  Waldenses  certain  conditions  more  favoura- 
ble than  those  of  the  edict  :f  but  the  court  of  Turin  assured 
them  that  there  was  nothing  to  be  expected  for  tiie  Walden- 
ses, till  they  had  laid  down  their  arms,  of  which  the  ambas- 
sadors gave  advice  to  the  deputies  of  the  valleys  who  had 
been  at  Turin,  by  a  letter  dated  the  13th,  which  they  wrote 
to  them  on  that  subject.|     On   the   14th  the  communities 

*  See  Appendix,  No.  IX.  f  Appendix,  No.  XIL  J  Appendix,  No.  XIII. 


396  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [cH.  vi. 

held  a  general  assembly  at  Rocheplatte,  when,  having  ex- 
amined the  terms  and  conditions  of  the  edict,  they  were  of 
opinion,  that  their  enemies  thought  of  nothing  less  than  in 
reality  to  permit  the  departure  which  they  pretended  to  grant 
to  them,  and  that  this  edict  was  nothing  but  a  snare  that 
they  had  laid  to  entangle  them,  and  to  destroy  them  with 
more  ease :  they  resolved  therefore  not  to  accept  of  it,  but 
to  follow  the  example  of  their  ancestors,  and  to  refer  the 
event  of  it  to  providence.  In  fact,  this  edict  which  was  de- 
signed altogether  to  divide  them,  wrought  a  quite  contrary 
effect,  and  served  much  to  unite  them  in  the  same  judg- 
ment. 

The  principal  reasons  that  hindered  them  from  accepting 
this  edict,  were,  first,  that  as  it  ordains  the  entire  execution 
of  the  order  of  the  31st  of  January,  which  condemned  all 
the  churches  to  be  demolished,  they  must  of  necessity  de- 
molish all  their  churches  within  eight  days,  because  the 
edict  declares  expressly,  that  if  every  thing  contained  in  it 
be  not  executed  within  the  space  of  eight  days,  they  are  de- 
prived of  and  forfeit  those  favours  that  are  stipulated  in  it.  It 
must  follow  then,  that  for  the  execution  of  the  edict,  either 
that  the  Waldenses  themselves  should  demolish  their  church- 
es, or  that  their  enemies  should  do  it.  The  Waldenses 
could  not  resolve  to  demolish  them  themselves,  and  therefore 
they  would  have  sent  for  troops  that  under  the  pretext  of 
this  demolishing,  would  have  infallibly  oppressed  the  Wal- 
denses. Secondly,  if  they  designed  to  permit  them  to  re- 
tire without  disturbance,  why  did  they  not  defer  the  execu- 
tion of  the  order  of  the  31st  of  January,  till  after  their  de- 
parture i*  Why  should  they  oblige  them  to  demolish  their 
churches  within  the  eight  days  that  were  given  them  to 
prepare  themselves  to  abandon  for  ever  their  native  coun- 
try, were  it  not  to  render  their  retreat  impossible?  Third- 
ly, this  edict  further  requires,  that  they  should  lay  down 
their  arms,  and  that  they  should  open  their  country  to 
monks,  missionaries,  and  Catholics.  Now  it  is  plain,  that 
jf  they  had  thrown  away  their  arms,  and  opened  their  coun- 


SECT.  Till.]        The  Waldenses  refuse  to  depart.  397 

try  before  their  departure,  they  would  have  Jjeen  exposed  to 
the  mercy  of  their  enemies,  and  to  tlie  fury  of  troops  who 
would  not  have  failed  to  enter  into  their  country,  to  oppose 
the  retreat  of  the  Waldenses,  and  to  torment  them  till  suth 
time  as  they  had  changed  their  religion,  as  had  been  prac- 
tised elsewhere  :  but  their  fear  was  so  much  the  more  justi- 
fiable on  this  occasion,  in  regard  that  they  gave  them  no 
assurance  that  their  troops  should  not  enter  into  the  valleys. 
Fourthly,  the  Waldenses  were  also  obliged  to  retire  in  three 
separate  brigades,  and  to  rendezvous  in  those  places,  where 
the  troops  being  encamped,  they  must  consequently  surren- 
der themselves  to  the  discretion  of  the  soldiers,  and  deliver 
themselves    up  to  be  butchered.     Fifthly,  the  permission 
that  the  same  edict  gives  to  the  Waldenses  to  sell  their  goods, 
was  altogether  useless  to  them.     For  besides  that  the  sale 
could  not  be  made  to  Catholics,  till  alter  their  departure, 
and  by  the  management  of  commissioners,  they  were  bound, 
out  of  the  price  of  the  said  goods,  to  indemnify  the  monks, 
the  missionaries,   the  ancient,  the  modern,  and  the  future 
Catholics,  for  whatever  damages  they  should  pretend  to, 
which  they  would  have  enhanced  above  the  value  of  their 
goods.     Sixthly,  the  edict  also  ordered,  that  besides  those 
that  should  go  out  of  the  valleys  of  their  own  accord,  the 
prince  should  reserve  to  himself  a  power  to  banish  whom  he 
should  think  fit  for  securing  the  repose  of  those  that  remain, 
which  supposes   not  only  that  the  conditions  of  the  edict 
were  so  disadvantageous,  that  there  would  be  many  Wal- 
denses, who  would  not  accept  them,  nor  depart  out  of  their 
station;  but  also  that  their  departure  ought  not  to  be  looked 
upon  as  a  favour,  but  as  a  punishment  that  they  intended  to 
inflict  on    several  Waldenses,  since  they  reserved  to  them- 
selves a  power  to  banish  those  who  should  have  a  mind  to 
stay.     Seventhly,  the  ambassadors  were  not  named  in  the 
edict,  and  the  Waldenses  had  no  security  for  the  execution 
of  those  things   that  were  therein   contained.     They  had 
good  reason  then  very  much  to  mistrust  these  proceedings, 
since  the  sad  experience  that  they  had  on  several  occasions 
Vol.  U.  S  F 


398  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [ch.  vi. 

how  ill  their  enemies  kept  their  word,  especially  in  this 
juncture,  when  they  had  broken  the  most  inviolable  laws, 
were  but  too  just  a  ground  for  their  suspicions.  Lastly, 
since  the  Duke  of  Savoy  had  declared  that  he  was  not  the 
master  of  this  affair,  because  of  the  engagements  that  he  had 
taken  with  the  King  of  France,  it  was  not  to  be  presumed 
that  the  latter  monarch,  on  whom  this  matter  depended, 
would  take  any  milder  measures,  in  respect  of  the  Wiilden- 
ses,  than  those  he  had  taken  with  regard  to  his  own  subjects. 
The  Waldenses  had  also  several  other  reasons  grounded  on 
the  impossibility  of  their  departure  in  so  short  a  time,  and 
upon  other  obstacles. 

The  communities  sent  their  resolution  to  the  ambassadors, 
who  used  all  the  exertions  imaginable,  to  procure  for  the 
Waldenses  conditions  more  certain  and  more  advantageous 
than  those  that  are  contained  in  the  edict ;  but  neither  their 
reasons  nor  their  solicitations  produced  any  effect.  They 
were  always  told,  that  as  long  as  the  Waldenses  were  in  arms, 
they  could  not  agree  to  any  thing,  nor  so  much  as  promise 
any  thing  positively.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Waldenses 
being  persuaded  that  they  would  not  disarm  them  but  to 
destroy  them  without  trouble  and  without  resistance,  could 
by  no  means  yield  to  it,  and  persisted  in  their  resolution  to 
defend  themselves,  if  they  came  to  attack  them. 

A  circumstance  transpired  at  this  time  that  served  much 
to  confirm  them  in  this  resolution.  Two  or  three  days  after 
the  publication  of  the  edict,  several  inhabitants  of  the  val- 
leys went  to  the  superintendent,  to  declare  to  him,  that  they 
and  their  families  intended  to  quit  Piedmont  conformably 
to  the  edict,  and  to  desire  of  him  safeconducts,  which  he 
refused  them,  under  the  pretence  that  they  ought  to  stay  till 
they  went  out  with  the  rest.  Moreover,  because  there  were 
several  that  resisted  his  solicitations  to  change  their  religion, 
he  caused  them  to  be  put  in  prison,  where  some  of  them 
languished  and  at  last  died,  and  others  remained  there  above 
nine  months,  viz.  till  the  time  when  all  the  other  prisoners 
were  discharged.     There  needed  no  other  proof  to  make  it 


SECT,  viii.]        The  duke  prepares  for  an  attack.  399 

appear  that  their  design  was  to  destroy  the  Waldenses,  who 
would  not  change  their  reHgion.  However,  the  communi- 
ties of  tlie  valleys  having  received  a  letter  from  the  ambas- 
sadors, called  another  assembly  at  Rocheplatte,  the  19th  of 
April :  they  persisted  in  their  resolution  not  to  comply  with 
the  edict,  but  to  defend  themselves.  It  was  then  ordered 
in  that  assembly,  that  all  the  ministers  should  preach,  and 
administer  the  sacrament  the  following  Sunday.  Tiie  val- 
ley of  St.  Martin  entered  into  this  deliberation  with  the  rest, 
but  put  it  not  into  execution.  Some  of  that  valley  changed 
their  minds  without  acquainting  the  other  valleys  of  it. 
And  the  elders  of  the  church  of  Villeseche  wrote  to  the 
ambassadors  who  were  yet  at  Turin  upon  the  point  of  their 
departing,  a  letter  dated  the  20th  of  April,  wherein  they 
declared  to  them,  that  they  would  execute  the  edict,  and 
entreated  them,  for  that  reason,  to  procure  for  them  a  safe- 
conduct,  and  time  to  provide  for  their  retreat.  One  of  the 
ambassadors  took  the  pains  to  go  to  the  carap  to  demand 
a  safeconduct;  but  they  denied  it,  uuiier  pretence  that  they 
had  not  desired  it  in  time.  It  was  always  too  soon  or  too 
late,  and  the  time  was  never  convenient  to  grant  safecon- 
ducts.  In  the  mean-time  the  Duke  of  Savoy  arrived  at  his 
camp  some  days  after  the  publication  of  the  edict,  hoping 
probably  he  might  strike  terror  into  the  Waldenses  by  his 
presence,  and  force  them  to  accept  of  the  conditions  that  he 
had  imposed  on  them.  He  had  made  a  review  of  iiis  troops, 
and  of  those  of  France,  that  were  encamped  on  the  plain  at 
the  foot  of  the  Alps ;  his  own  army  was  composed  of  his 
family,  all  the  cavalry  and  infantry,  and  the  militin  of  Mon- 
dovi,  of  Barjes,  of  Bagnols,  with  a  great  number  of  fo- 
reigners. And  the  army  of  France  consisted  of  several  re- 
giments of  horse  and  dragoons,  of  seven  or  eight  battalions 
of  foot  that  had  passed  the  mountains,  and  a  part  of  the 
garrisons  of  Pignerol  and  Casal.  The  Duke  had  also  made 
the  necessary  preparations  for  attacking  the  Waldenses,  as 
soon  as  the  truce  that  was  granted  theui  should  expire,  ha- 
ving 'appointed  iiis  own  army  to  storm  the  valley  of  Lucerne 


400  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [ch.  vi. 

and  the  community  of  Angrogne  ;  and  the  army  of  France 
to  attack  the  valleys  of  St.  INJiirtin  and  Perouse.  The  VVal- 
denses,  on  the  other  hand,  had  taken  some  pains  to  defend 
themselves.  They  possessed  only  a  part  of  the  valley  of 
Lucerne ;  for  the  tower  that  gave  name  to  this  valley,  and 
many  other  considerable  places,  were  in  the  enemies'  hand. 
The  community  of  Angrogne,  from  which  some  call  the  val- 
ley by  the  same  name,  by  reason  of  its  large  extent  was  not 
wholly  occupied  by  the  Waldenses.  In  the  valley  of  Perouse 
they  took  up  only  certain  posts  in  the  places  that  depend 
on  the  state  of  Piedmont;  for  this  valley  is  divided  by  the 
river  Cluson  between  the  King  of  France  and  the  Duke  of 
Savoy;  but  they  were  in  possession  of  all  the  valley  of  St. 
Martin,  being  the  strongest  of  all  by  its  situation.  They 
had  fortified  themselves  in  every  one  of  those  valleys  with 
several  intrenchments  of  earth  and  flry  stones.  They  were 
about  two  thousand  five  hundred  men  bearing  arms;  they 
appointed  captains  and  officers  of  the  chiefost  among  them- 
selves, for  they  had  no  foreigners,  and  they  waited  the  ap- 
proach of  the  enemy  with  great  resolution.  But  as  on  the 
one  hand  they  had  neither  regular  troops,  nor  captains,  nor 
experienced  officers;  and  that,  on  the  other,  there  were 
several  Waldenses  who  had  been  corrupted,  or  that  had  re- 
lented during  the  negotiation,  it  is  not  to  be  wondered  at 
if  they  took  not  all  the  necessary  precautions  that  were  in 
their  power.  One  of  the  greatest  faults  they  committed 
was,  their  striving  to  maintain  all  their  posts ;  for  if  they 
had  abandoned  the  most  advanced,  and  had  retired  within 
the  intrenchments  they  had  made  in  the  mountains,  it  is  not 
likely  they  woidd  have  been  beaten  out  of  them. 

On  the  22d  of  April,  being  the  day  appointed  for  the  at- 
tack, the  French  army  commanded  by  Catinat,  governor  of 
Casal,  marched  two  hours  before  day,  by  torch-light,  against 
the  valleys  of  Perouse  and  St.  Martin,  having  for  sometime 
followed  the  river  Cluson  on  the  king's  territories.  Cati- 
nat sent  out  a  detachment  of  infantry,  commanded  by  Vel- 
levieille,  lieutenant  colonel  in  Liniosin,  who  having  passed 


SECT.  VIII.]  Hostilities  in  Piedmont.  401 

the  river  over  a  bridge,  entered  into  the  valley  of  Perouse  on 
the  side  of  Piedmont.  He  seized  on  St.  Germain,  a  village 
that  the  Waldenses  had  abandoned,  and  proceeded  to  at- 
tack an  intrencliment  that  they  had  made  hard  by,  in  which 
there  were  two  hundred  men.  The  Waldenses  quitted  this 
post  alter  some  resistance,  and  took  possession  of  another 
more  advantageous.  In  the  mean  time  a  new  detachment 
of  horse  and  of  yellow  dragoons  having  again  passed  the 
river,  came  to  relieve  the  foot  who  had  begun  the  engage- 
ment. They  used  their  utmost  efforts  to  gain  the  entrench- 
ments of  the  Waldenses,  of  which  they  thought  easily  to 
become  masters,  since  they  were  six  to  one;  but  they  found 
so  stout  a  resistance,  that  after  having  lost  many  of  their 
soldiers,  they  were  forced  to  entrench  themselves  at  a  pistol 
shot  distance;  continual  firings  were  kept  up  on  both  sides 
for  more  than  ten  hours  together;  but  at  length  the  Wal- 
denses went  out  from  their  entrenchments  w  ith  their  swords 
in  their  hands,  surprised  the  French,  who  little  expected  so 
bold  an  action,  and  drove  them  even  into  the  plain  on  the 
other  side  of  the  Cluson,  where  opportunely  they  found  a 
bridge  that  kept  them  from  being  drowned.  '  There  were, 
on  this  occasion,  more  than  five  hundred  Frenchmen  killed 
and  wounded,  and  among  the  rest  several  officers  of  note, 
though  the  W^aldenses  had  but  two  men  killed  and  some 
few  wounded. 

While  things  passed  thus  in  Perouse,  the  body  of  the 
king's  army  repassed  the  Cluson  to  the  fort  of  Perouse  on 
the  side  of  France,  where  Catinat  formed  a  detachment  of 
horse  commanded  by  Melac,  who  having  passed  the  river 
by  two  bridges,  fetched  a  compass  about  to  gain  the  high 
grounds  that  separate  the  valley  of  St.  IMartin  from  Dau- 
phiny.  The  rest  of  the  army  having  likewise  passed  the 
river,  went  to  encamp  with  Catinat  at  Bolards  part  of  the 
night,  and  the  next  day  attacked  the  valley  of  St.  Martin 
at  a  village  called  Rioclaret.  But  as  those  who  had  the 
command  in  that  valley,  did  not  think  that  they  would  mo- 
lest them,  after   they  had  shown  theirinclination  to  accept 


402  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [ch.  vi, 

of  the  amnesty,  especially  as  the  day  appointed  for  their 
departure  out  of  that  vallej  was  not  fixed ;  the  Waldenses 
were  not  in  a  condition  to  defend  themselves  nor  to  make 
any  resistance,  but  consented  to  lay  down  their  arms,  and 
implore  the  pity  and  compassion  of  the  conqueror.  But 
the  French  being  enraged  with  what  had  passed  before  St. 
Germain,  were  not  content  merely  to  burn,  ravish,  and  pil- 
lage, but  they  massacred  witiiout  distinction  of  age  or  sex, 
with  unparalleled  fury,  all  that  could  not  escape  their  barba- 
rous cruelty.  Catinat  having  ravaged  all  the  country  of 
Rioclaret  after  a  most  horrible  manner,  left  some  troops  in 
the  valley  of  St.  Martin,  traversed  with  the  body  of  his 
army  the  mountains  that  separate  this  valley  from  that  of 
Perouse,  and  encamped  without  any  opposition,  in  the  com- 
munity of  Pramol  in  the  valley  of  Perouse ;  the  soldiers 
notwithstanding  put  to  the  edge  of  the  sword  all  that 
fell  into  their  hands,  without  respect  to  women  or  children, 
to  the  aged  or  the  sick.  In  the  mean-time  the  detach- 
ment that  Melac  commanded,  having  encamped  one  night 
on  the  emiuencies  of  the  valley  of  St.  Martin,  entered 
through  divers  passages  into  that  valley,  unknown  to  any 
but  the  inhabitants  of  the  country.  Wherever  he  pass- 
ed he  left  tiie  marks  of  an  unheard  of  cruelty,  and  join- 
ed the  main  body  of  the  army  that  was  encamped  at 
Pramol.  I  shall  not  here  give  an  account  of  the  cruelties 
that  were  exercised  on  these  and  many  other  occasions :  it 
will  be  sufficient  to  relate,  in  the  sequel,  some  examples 
whereby  one  may  judge  of  the  rest. 

It  is  necessary  to  interrupt  the  relation  of  the  actions  of 
the  French  in  the  valley  of  Perouse,  because  there  happen- 
ed things  in  the  valleys  of  Lucerne  and  Angrogne  that 
ought  to  be  previously  known. 

The  army  of  the  Duke  of  Savoy  having  rendezvoused  at 
the  plain  of  St.  John  the  22d  of  April,  was,  the  next  day, 
divided  into  several  bodies,  to  attack  different  entrenchments 
that  the  Waldenses  had  made  in  the  valleys  of  Lucerne  and 
Angrogne.     The  Waldenses  not  being  able  to  resist  the  en- 


SECT,  viii.]  Hostilities  in  Piedmont.  403 

emies'  cannon  in  the  posts  that  were  too  open,  where  the 
horse  might  also  draw  up,  were  forced,  after  some  resistance, 
to  abandon  a  part  of  these  entrenchments,  and  to  withdraw 
into  a  fort  tliat  was  more  advantageous  above  Angrogne, 
where  they  found  themselves  to  be  nearly  five  hundred  men. 
The  enemy  having  burnt  all  the  houses  that  they  found  in 
their  way,  came  to  storm  this  fort  of  the  Waldenses,  who 
received  them  so  warmly  with  their  muskets  and  stones,  and 
defended  themselves  so  vigorously  against  this  great  body, 
that  they  kept  their  post  all  that  day  without  the  loss  of 
more  than  five  men;  the  enemy  lost  above  three  hundred, 
though  they  were  covered  with  an  entrenchment  beyond 
pistol  shot.  The  Waldenses  fearing  that  they  should  not 
be  able  to  keep  this  fort  any  longer,  by  reason  that  the 
troops  increased,  passed  into  another  a  hundred  paces  be- 
yond it,  in  a  more  convenient  place,  there  they  waited  with 
great  resolution  die  army  that  advanced  to  attack  them; 
when  the  next  day,  being  the  24th  of  April,  they  were  in- 
formed that  the  valley  of  St.  ?»iartiu  had  surrendered,  and 
that  the  French  were  coming  on  their  rear;  for  from  that 
valley  there  is  an  easy  passage  to  those  of  Lucerne  and 
Angrogne.  This  news  obliged  the  Waldenses  to  treat  with 
Don  Gabriel  of  Savoy,  uncle  to,  and  general  of  the  armies 
ol',  the  Duke  of  Savoy,  and  with  the  rest  of  the  general  of- 
ficers, who  having  understood  the  mind  of  his  royal  high- 
ness, promised  positively  on  his  part  and  on  their  own,  that 
the  Waldenses  should  be  absolutely  pardoned,  and  that  they 
should  be  admitted  to  the  terms  of  the  order  of  the  9th  of 
April,  provided  they  would  deliver  themselves  up  to  his 
clemency:  but  the  Waldenses  making  some  difficulty  to 
coniide  in  this  promise,  Don  Gabriel,  who  had  notice  of  it, 
sent  them  a  note  written  and  signed  with  his  ovvn  hand  in 
the  name  of  his  royal  highness,  to  this  effect,  "Lay  down 
your  arms  immediately,  and  submit  yourselves  to  his  royal 
highness's  clemency,  in  so  doing,  assure  yourselves  that  he 
will  pardon  you,  and  that  your  persons  and  those  of  your 
wives  and  children  shall  not  be  touched."     An  assurance  of 


404  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [ch.  vi. 

this  nature  might  give  full  satisfaction  to  the  Waldenses  for 
the  security  of  their  lives  and  liberties.  For  besides  that 
this  promise  was  made  in  the  name  and  on  the  part  of  the 
duke;  on  the  other  hand,  though  it  had  been  made  only  by 
Don  Gabriel  and  the  general  officers,  it  ought  not  to  be  less 
inviolable.  The  Waldenses,  therefore,  laid  down  their  arms, 
relying  on  his  promise,  and  the  greatest  part  of  them  went 
and  surrendered  themselves  to  their  enemies,  believing  that 
they  should  be  quickly  released.  But  all  those  that  yield- 
ed themselves  into  their  hands,  were  made  prisoners,  and 
carried  to  the  city  of  Lucerne,  under  pretence  of  leading 
them  to  his  royal  highness  to  make  their  submissions. 
Their  enemies  also  seized  all  the  posts  that  the  Waldenses 
possessed  in  the  community  of  Angrogne;  they  were  not 
content  only  to  plunder,  to  pillage,  and  to  burn  the  houses 
of  these  poor  people,  but  they  also  caused  a  great  number 
of  the  Waldenses  of  every  age  and  sex  to  be  put  to  the 
sword ;  they  ravished  abundance  of  women  and  virgins, 
and,  in  fine,  committed  actions  so  barbarous  and  brutal, 
that  they  are  enough  to  strike  horror  into  the  minds  of  all 
that  have  any  shame  or  sense  of  humanity  left. 

There  wei'e,  nevertheless,  many  Waldenses,  who  after 
this  compromise  dispersed  themselves  up  and  down,  not 
being  willing  to  deliver  themselves  into  the  hands  of  their 
enemies,  till  they  had  heard  what  became  of  the  first  that 
did  so.  But  seeing,  on  the  one  hand,  that  the  army  ex- 
ercised all  manner  of  outrage  wherever  it  came,  and,  on 
the  other,  that  all  those  that  had  surrendered  themselves 
were  detained,  they  hid  themselves  in  the  woods,  and  sent 
a  petition  to  Don  Gabriel,  to  entreat  the  release  of  their 
brethren  vviiom  they  kept  in  hold  contrary  to  their  word, 
and  to  cause  a  cessation  of  hostility  that  the  armies  exe- 
cuted after  so  barbarous  a  manner.  Don  Gabriel  returned 
no  answer  to  this  request;  but  certain  officers  replied,  that 
ihey  carried  the  Waldenses  to  Lucerne,  for  no  other  cause 
but  to  ask  forgiveness  of  his  royal  highness,  and  that  after- 
wards they  should  be  released.     In   the   mean-time   Don 


SECT,  nil.]    Perfidious  coiiduct  of  the  Catholic  party.    405 

Gabriel  caused  the  highest  places  of  the  valley  of  Angrogne 
to  be  gained  by  part  of  his  army,  who  finding  no  more 
opposition,  came  as  far  as  the  tower,  being  the  most  con- 
siderable fort  of  the  Waldenses,  in  which  they  had  the 
greatest  part  of  their  cattle.  The  Marquis  de  Parelle,  wiio 
commanded  this  body  of  the  army,  gave  the  Waldenses  to 
understand,  that  a  peace  being  concluded  by  the  capitula- 
tion of  Angrogne,  he  oflered  to  them  the  enjoyment  of  the 
fruits  of  the  said  peace.  He  assured  them  to  this  eflect,  oa 
the  word  and  honour  of  a  gentleman,  that  if  they  would 
deliver  themselves  into  his  hands,  their  persons,  and  those 
of  their  wives  and  children,  should  be  preserved  harmless } 
that  they  might  carry  away  with  them  whatever  they  chose, 
without  fear  of  having  any  thing  taken  away  from  them^ 
that  they  had  nothing  to  do  but  to  come  to  Lucerne  to 
make  their  submissions  to  his  royal  highness;  and  that, 
upon  this  condition,  those  that  were  willing  to  turn  Catho- 
lics, might  return  with  all  safety  to  their  houses  and  goods, 
and  those  that  would  go  out  of  tl>e  estates  of  Piedmont, 
should  have  liberty  to  depart  conformably  to  the  order  of 
the  9th  of  April.  The  Waldenses  that  were  in  the  field 
and  in  the  tower  yielded  themselves  again,  upon  the  credit 
of  these  promises,  but  they  were  no  better  performed  than 
the  other:  for  their  enemies  were  no  sooner  entered  within 
the  bounds  of  the  tower,  when  not  only  all  that  belonged 
to  the  Waldenses,  was  given  up  to  the  plunder  of  the  sol- 
diers, and  of  the  banditti  of  Mondovi,  their  mortal  enemies, 
who  enriched  themselves  with  their  spoils:  but  those  poor 
people,  the  greatest  part  of  whom  consisted  of  old  men, 
sick  persons,  and  of  women  and  children,  were  made  pri- 
soners, with  some  ministers  who  were  among  them,  and  all 
hurried  along  so  violently,  that  those  who,  througii  age 
or  infirmity,  could  not  march  as  fast  as  the  soldiers  would 
have  them,  had  their  throats  cut,  or  were  flung  headlong 
down  precipices. 

In  the  valley  of  Perouse,  the  French  committed  almost 
the  same  outrages  that  the  duke's  troops  had  done  at  An- 

VoL.  II.  3  G 


400  History  of  the  Christian  Church.      .   [cH.  vi. 

grognc  and  at  the  tower  in  the  valley  of  Lucerne.  They 
were  encamped  in  a  quarter  of  the  community  of  Pramol, 
called  La  Rua,  distant  aljout  half  an  hour's  march  from 
another  quarter,  called  Peumian,  where  a  party  of  the 
communities  of  Pramol,  St.  Germain,  Perrustin,  and  Roche- 
platte  were  retreated,  to  the  number  of  fifteen  hundred  per- 
sons, men,  women,  and  children.  The  French  might 
easily  make  a  descent  from  their  quarters  to  St.  Germain, 
and  carry  away  the  two  hundred  Waldenses  who  had  so 
valiantly  defended  themselves  before,  and  were  retreated 
within  their  intrenchments  :  but  they  being  informed  of  the 
loss  of  the  valley  of  St.  Martin,  and  of  tlie  enemies'  march, 
quitted  this  intrenchment,  fearing  lest  they  should  be  sur- 
prised in  it,  and  went  into  Peumian  with  their  brethren. 
Here  they  were  consulting  how  they  might  defend  them- 
selves against  the  Fi'ench  who  prepared  to  attack  them, 
when  certain  inhabitants  of  the  valleys,  who  had  revolted 
to  the  enemy,  came  and  assured  them  that  the  valleys  of 
Angrogne  and  Lucerne  had  already  submitted  to  their 
prince's  discretion,  who  had  pardoned  them,  and  referred 
them  to  the  terms  of  the  order  of  the  9th  of  April.  They 
told  them  also,  that  he  only  wanted  them  to  put  an  end  to  a 
war,  the  weight  whereof  tliey  were  not  able  to  sustain  alone, 
and  to  procure  for  themselves  an  advantageous  peace. 
This  news  having  in  part  broke  the  measures  of  the  Wal- 
denses, they  sent  deputies  and  a  drummer  to  treat  with  the 
general  of  the  French  army,  who  desired  nothing  more  than 
a  proposition  of  peace.  He  told  them  that  his  royal  high- 
ness's  intention  was  to  pardon  them,  and  promised  them 
positively  on  the  part  of  the  prince  and  on  his  own  behalf, 
the  lives  and  liberties  of  the  Waldenses,  with  a  permission 
to.  return  with  all  security  to  their  houses  and  goods,  pro- 
vided they  would  readily  lay  down  their  arms :  and  whereas 
the  deputies  represented  to  him  that  they  feared  lest  the 
I'rench,  being  exasperated  with  what  had  passed  at  St. 
Germain,  should  revenge  themselves  on  the  Waldenses 
Mhen  ihej'  were  disarmed;  he  made  great  protestations  to 


SECT,  nil.]    The  Waldenses  surrender  themselves.  40T 

them,  and  confirmed  tliem  with  oaths,  that  aUhough  the 
wliole  army  should  pass  by  their  houses,  yet  they  sliould 
not  kill  so  much  as  a  chicken.  This  proposition  being- 
made,  Catinat  detained  with  him  one  of  the  deputies,  and 
sent  back  the  others  to  give  notice  to  the  Waldenses,  and 
to  oblige  all  them  that  were  dispersed  to  meet  together  the 
next  day,  being  the  25th  of  April,  at  Peumian,  to  the  end 
that  every  one  might  return  to  his  house  after  they  were 
informed  of  the  peace.  While  the  Waldenses  were  gather- 
ing together  their  scattered  families  at  Peumian,  Catinat 
gave  an  account  of  this  capitulation  to  Don  Gabriel,  who 
sent  a  courier  to  him  in  the  evening,  and  he  passing  through 
Peumian  assured  the  W^aldenses  that  he  brought  peace; 
and  the  next  day,  on  his  return,  told  them  that  the  peace 
was  concluded.  They  were  so  well  persuaded  of  it,  that 
they  had  laid  down  their  arms  the  day  before,  observing 
the  conditions  of  the  treaty,  and  confiding  wholly  in  Cati- 
nat's  promises.  In  these  circumstances  they  were  expect- 
ing the  news  at  Peumian,  when  there  arrived  one  of  the 
king's  officers  from  the  garrison  of  the  fort  of  Perouse, 
with  several  dragoons  with  him.  This  officer,  who  was 
very  well  known  to  the  Waldenses,  repeated  to  them  the 
assurances  of  peace,  and  caused  the  men  to  be  put  in  one 
quarter,  and  the  women  and  children  in  another.  The 
French  troops  being  arrived  at  the  same  time,  told  the  men 
that  they  had  orders  to  lead  them  to  their  own  houses,  and 
caused  them  to  march  four  by  four.  These  poor  people 
being  forced  to  leave  their  wives  and  their  daughters  ex- 
posed to  the  discretion  of  the  soldiers,  were  conducted,  not 
to  their  houses,  as  they  had  been  told,  but  to  Don  Gabriel 
who  was  encamped  on  the  mountain  of  Vachiere,  and  he 
gave  orders  for  them  to  be  conveyed  to  Lucerne  as  prison- 
ers of  war!  In  the  mean-time  the  females  vvei*e  subjected 
to  all  the  abominable  treatment  that  the  rage  and  lust  of 
brutish  soldiers  could  invent.  Not  satisfied  with  plunder- 
ing them  of  their  property,  these  barbarians  violated  the 
persons  of  both  married  women  and  maidens,  in  a  manner 


40ii  History  of  the  Christian  Church.        [ch.  ti. 

that  modesty  forbids  our  relating;  and  several  were  put  to 
death  merely  for  resisting  in  defence  of  their  honour. 
iMons.  Catinat  was  not  present  when  these  atrocities  were 
perpetrated  at  Penmian.  He  left  the  management  of  this 
aftair  to  certain  of  his  officers,  no  doubt  that  he  might  be 
out  of  the  way  of  hearing  the  complaints  which  the  WaF- 
denses  would  hare  made  to  him,  and  not  choosing  to  be  a 
spectator  of  these  barbarous  proceedings.  It  is  certain, 
however,  that  besides  those  that  were  put  to  death,  and 
others  that  escaped  by  flying  to  the  woods  and  mountains, 
from  the  persecution  of  these  monsters,  numbers  were  drag- 
ged to  prison  after  a  most  inhuman  manner. 

The  valley  of  Perouse  being  now  reduced  like  the  rest, 
by    the    capitulation    of   Peumian,    a    detachment    of  the 
French  army  quitted  it  and  proceeded  to  join  Don  Gabriel 
at  la  V^achiere.     And   now,  having  completed   their  work, 
the  conquered  Waldenscs  were  collected  from  all  parts  of 
Piedmont,   and  lodged  in   the  difl'ei'ent  prisons  or  castles 
under  pretence  of  leading  them  to  his  royal  highness  to  ask 
his  pardon  and  obtain  their  liberation.     But  this  furnished 
their  unfeeling  adversaries  with  a  fresh  opportunity  of  dis- 
playing  their  inhumanity.     The   utmost    precaution    was 
taken  to  separate  the  different  branches  of  the  same  family  ! 
The  husband  was  carefully  parted  from  his  wife,  and  the 
parent  from  his  child — thus  depriving  them  of  those  means 
of  succour  and  consolation  which  the  ties  of  consanguinity 
naturally  inspire.     By  this  piece  of  refined  cruelty  they 
no  doubt  hoped   to  find  the  victims  of  their  perfidy  and 
malice  the  less  able  to  withstand  temptation,  or  endure  the 
evils  they  had  in  store  for  them.     Those  that  could  ill  bear 
the  wretchedness  of  a  close  confinement,  were  to  be  con- 
sumed with  the   corroding  anxiety  and  regret  which  must 
result  from  being  separated  from  their  dearest  earthly  con- 
nexions.     There  were,  indeed,  a  great  number  of  children, 
whom   they   did  not   send  to  prison,   but  dispersed   them 
throughout   Piedmont   in  private  houses;  but  this  was   a 
piece  of  Jesuitical  craftiness,  for  they  hoped  by  that  means 


SECT.  VIII.]  Causes  of  these  inhumanities.  40t> 

to  get  them  the  more  readily  histructed  in  the  principles  of 
the  Catholic  religion. 

But  I  must  not  prosecute  this  melancholy  narrative  more 
in  detail,  though  what  has  now  been  laid  before  the  reader  can 
only  be  considered  as  a  sample  of  the  harvest.  Dreadful 
as  were  the  proceedings  which  took  place  in  the  massacre  in 
1655,  as  detailed  in  a  former  section  of  this  work,  they  do 
not  appear  by  any  means  to  have  surpassed  in  enormity 
the  cruelties  inflicted  upon  the  VValdenses  in  1686.* 
Those  who  deny  the  existence  of  the  devil  and  his  agency 
in  prompting  the  human  race  to  destroy  one  another,  if 
they  would  account  for  the  infernal  cruelties  that  are  rela- 
ted to  have  been  now  inflicted  by  the  Catholics  on  the  poor 
Waldenses,  simply  on  the  principle  of  human  depravity, 
must  necessarily  entertain  a  much  worse  opinion  of  human 
nature  than  the  writer  of  these  pages  has  yet  been  able  to 
bring  himself  to  adopt.  He  can,  indeed,  admit  much  that 
militates  against  the  dignity  of  human  nature  in  its  lapsed 
state  ;  but  he  can  only  account  for  the  monstrous  cruelties 
that  were  perpetrated  on  a  class  of  his  fellow-creatures,  the 
most  harmless  and  inofiensive  that  ever  inhabited  the  earth, 
on  the  principle  of  the  active  agency  of  "  the  prince  of 
the  power  of  the  air,  the  spirit  that  vvorketh  in  the  children 
of  disobedience" — he  who  was  "  a  murderer  from  the  be- 
ginning"— "  that  old  serpent,  which  is  the  devil  and  Satan" 
—the  grand  adversary  of  God  and  man.     The  present 

*  A  pretty  circumstantial  relation  of  these  things  is  to  be  found  in  se- 
Tcral  publications  which  appeared  at  the  time,  and  particularly  in  two 
tracts  now  before  me,  from  which  the  materials  of  this  section  are 
drawn.  The  first  is  entitled,  ^'- The  Histot-y  of  the  Persecution  of  the 
Valleys  of  PiedmotU,  containing  an  account  of  vchat  passed  in  the  dis- 
persion of  the  churches,  in  the  year  IbCG."  Printed  in  4to.  London, 
1688.  (See  pp.  31 — 35.)  The  other  is  entitled,  ''77te  State  of  Savoy,  in 
which  a  full  and  distinct  account  is  given  of  the  Persecution  of  the 
Protestants,  by  means  of  the  French  Counsels.''''  4to.  London,  1691. 
To  this  last  mentioned  work  I  am  indebted  for  the  valuable  documents 
winch  the  reader  will  f;nd  in  the  Appendix.  Both  the  publications 
are  so  rare  that  I  have  not  been  able  to  meet  with  a  second  copy  of 
cither  of  them. 


410  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [ch.  rj, 

was  his   hour  and  the  power  of  darkness  ;  but  to  return 
from  this  digression. 

The  armies  of  France  and  Savoy  having  inhumanly 
butchered  a  muUitude  of  the  Waldenses,  committed  more 
than  twelve  thousand  of  them  to  prison,  and  dispersed  two 
thousand  of  their  children  among  the  Catholics  ;  conclud- 
ing that  their  work  was  accomplished,  caused  all  their  pro- 
perty to  be  confiscated.  And  thus  were  the  valleys  of 
Piedmont  depopulated  of  their  ancient  inhabitants,  and  the 
light  of  the  glorious  gospel  extinguished  in  a  country 
where,  for  many  succeeding  centuries,  it  had  shone  with 
resplendent  lustre. 

In  the  month  of  September,  1686,  the  Swiss  Cantons 
convened  a  general  assembly  at  Aran,  to  deliberate  on  the 
condition  of  those  who  were  either  imprisoned  or  in  a  state 
of  exile  in  Piedmont ;  and  they  came  to  the  resolution  of 
sending  deputies  to  demand  from  the  duke  the  release  of 
all  that  were  confined,  and  the  privilege  of  quitting  the 
country.  The  latter,  probably  by  this  time  glutted  with 
human  carnage,  signed  a  treaty,  in  consequence  of  which 
the  prisons  were  set  open,  and  leave  given  to  such  as  had 
survived,  to  depart  peaceably  dirough  that  part  of  Savoy 
which  borders  on  Berne  and  the  territory  of  Geneva.  But 
a  bare  recital  of  the  miseries  which  the  prisoners  had  suf- 
fered during  their  confinement,  is  suflicient  to  sicken  the 
heart.  More  than  ten  thousand  persons  were  distributed 
among  fourteen  prisons  or  castles  in  Piedmont.  They 
were  fed  for  months  upon  bread  and  water — the  former,  in 
which  were  often  found  lime,  glass,  and  filth  of  various 
kinds  was  so  bad  as  hardly  to  deserve  the  name ;  while  the 
latter  in  many  instances,  brought  from  stagnant  pools,  was 
scarcely  fit  for  the  use  of  cattle.  Their  lodging  was  upon 
bricks  or  filthy  strav/.  The  prisons  were  so  thronged  that^ 
during  the  heat  of  the  summer  months,  they  became  intole- 
rable, and  deaths  were  daily  taking  place.  Want  of  clean- 
liness necessarily  engendered  diseases  among  them — they 
became  ^annoyed  with  vermin,  which  prevented  their  sleep 


SECT.  Till.]     Protracted  cruelties  of  the  Catholics.         411 

eitlier  by  night  or  day.  Many  women  in  child-bearing 
were  lost  for  the  want  of  the  care  and  comforts  necessary 
to  such  a  situation,  and  their  infants  shared  the  same 
fate. 

Such  was  the  state  of  these  afflicted  and  persecuted  crea- 
tures, when  the  Duke  of  Savoy's  proclamation  was  issued 
for  releasing  them.  It  was  now  the  month  of  October : 
the  ground  was  covered  with  snow  and  ice ;  the  victims  of 
cruelty  were  almost  universally  emaciated  through  poverty 
and  disease,  and  very  unfit  for  the  projected  journey.  The 
proclamation  was  made  at  the  castle  of  jNIondovi,  for  ex- 
ample ;  and  at  five  o'clock  the  same  evening  they  were  to 
begin  a  march  of  four  or  five  leagues  !  Before  the  morn- 
ing more  than  a  hundred  and  fifty  of  them  sunk  under  the 
burden  of  their  maladies  and  fatigues,  and  died.  The 
same  thing  happened  to  the  prisoners  at  Fossan.  A  com- 
pany of  them  halted  one  night  at  the  foot  of  jNIount  Cenis : 
when  they  were  about  to  march  the  next  morning,  they 
pointed  the  officer  who  conducted  them,  to  a  terrible  tem- 
pest upon  the  top  of  the  mountain,  beseeching  him  to  al- 
low them  to  stay  till  it  had  passed  away. '  The  inhuman 
ofiicer,  deaf  to  the  voice  of  pity,  insisted  on  their  marching  : 
the  consequence  of  which  was,  that  eighty- six  of  their 
number  died,  and  were  buried  in  that  horrible  tempest  of 
snow.  Some  merchants  that  afterwards  crossed  the  moun- 
tains, saw  the  bodies  of  these  miserable  people  extended  on 
the  snow,  the  mothers  clasping  their  children  in  their 
arms  ! 

It  is  but  an  act  of  justice,  however,  to  add  that,  in  some 
few  instances,  the  officers  who  conducted  the  different 
troops  of  Waldenses  out  of  the  country,  treated  them  with 
more  humanity.  Their  own  historians  admit  the  fact,  and 
it  ought  to  be  recorded  that  some  took  a  particular  care  of 
them;  and  certainly  the  picture  that  is  drawn  of  their 
deplorable  condition  is  such  as  was  well  calculated  to  melt 
the  most  unfeeling  heart  to  tenderness.  The  greater  part 
of  them  were  almost  naked  and  without  shoes ;  and  they 


412  History  of  the  Christian  Church.        [ch.  vr. 

all  bol'e  such  striking  marks  of  sufiering  and  wretchedness 
that  the  very  sight  of  them  was  enough  to  pierce  the  heart. 
Those  who  survived  the  journey  arrived  at  Geneva  about 
the  middle  of  December,  but  in  such  an  exhausted  state, 
that  several  expired  between  the  two  gates  of  the  city, 
"finding  the  end  of  their  lives  in  the  beginning  of  their 
liberty."  Others  were  so  benumbed  with  cold  that  they 
had  not  power  to  speak ;  many  staggered  from  faintness 
and  disease,  while  others  having  lost  the  use  of  their  limbs 
were  unable  to  lift  up  their  hands  to  receive  the  assistance 
that  was  tendered  them. 

At  Geneva  they  experienced  that  kind  and  hospitable 
reception  which  was  due  to  them  as  their  fellow-creatures, 
and  more  especially  as  their  persecuted  Christian  brethren. 
They  clothed  the  naked,  fed  the  hungry,  succoured  the 
afflicted,  and  healed  the  sick.  But  what  pen  can  describe 
the  affecting  scene  which  now  took  place  while  they  halted 
at  Geneva  for  rest  and  refreshment  before  they  proceeded 
forward  into  Switzerland  !  Those  who  arrived  first,  natu- 
rally went  out  to  meet  those  that  came  after,  anxiously  in- 
quiring after  their  relations  and  friends,  of  whom  they  had 
heard  nothing  since  the  fatal  catastrophe  in  the  valleys  of 
Piedmont.  The  father  inquired  after  his  child,  and  the 
child  after  its  parent — the  husband  sought  his  wife,  and  the 
latter  her  partner  in  life.  Every  one  endeavoured  to  gain 
some  intelligence  of  his  friend  or  neighbour ;  but  as  three 
fourths  of  them  had  died  in  prison  or  on  the  road,  it  ex- 
hibited a  melancholy  spectacle  to  see  so  many  dissolved  in 
tears  at  the  distressing  accounts  they  received.  Their 
principal  earthly  comfort  now  arose  from  the  hospitable 
Idndness  of  tlie  people  of  Geneva,  who  flocked  around 
them  and  evinced  such  solicitude  to  conduct  them  to  their 
own  homes,  that  the  magistrates  of  the  city  were  obliged, 
in  order  to  prevent  confusion  and  disorder,  to  issue  an  in- 
junction, prohibiting  any  from  going  out  of  the  city.  There 
was  a  noble  emulation  who  should  entertain  the  most  sick, 
or  those  that  were  most  afllicted.     Thev  received  them  not 


SECT.  VIII.]         Kindness  of  the  Siviss  Cantons.  413 

merely  as  strangers  in  distress,  but  as  Christian  brethren, 
who  brought  pe^ice  and  spiritual  blessings  into  their  fami- 
lies. All  that  needed  clothing,  were  either  supplied  by 
those  that  lodged  them,  or  by  the  Italian  Bank,  the  direc- 
tors of  which,  from  first  to  last,  evinced  all  the  marks  of 
tender  compassion,  and  of  disinterested  kindness. 

But  it  was  not  only  at  Geneva  that  the  Waldenses  met 
with  this  kind  and  hospitable  treatment.  The  Cantons  of 
Switzerland  opened  to  them  their  country,  and  not  their 
country  only,  but  thoir  hearts  and  affections  also.  The 
conduct  of  the  Swiss,  indeed,  was  so  noble  and  disinterested 
throughout  the  whole  of  this  distressing  period,  that  it 
would  be  unjust  to  their  memory  to  pass  it  over  with  a 
slight  mention.*     Perhaps  the  best  way  of  evincing  my  own 

*  It  would  seem  that  the  valleys  of  Piedmont  were  not  the  only  spot 
in  which  the  disciples  of  Christ  were,  at  this  period,  the  subjects  of 
persecution.  The  foliorriDg  passage  in  Dr.  Burnet's  Secwid  Letter, 
written  from  Switzerland,  in  1685.  lately  struck  my  attention  in  glan- 
cing over  that  entertaining  performance. 

"In  April,  1685,  about  fire  hundied  persons,  of  different  sexes  and 
ages,  passed  through  Coire  (a  town  m  Switzerland)  who  gave  this  ac- 
count of  themselves.  They  were  inhabitants  of  a  valley  in  Tirol,  be- 
longing mostly  to  the  archbishoorick  of  Sakzburgh — a  remnant  of  the 
old  Waldenses.  They  worshipped  neither  images  nor  saints;  and  they 
believed  the  sacrament  (of  the  Lord's  supnei )  was  only  a  commemora- 
tion of  ths  death  oi  Christ ;  and  in  many  other  points  they  had  their 
opiniofiS  di';n?7ent  from  those  of  the  church  of  Rome.  They  knew  no- 
thing of  either  Luth^ra^is  or  Ca'vinists;  and  the  Grisons,  though  their 
neighbours,  had  never  hoard  of  this  nearness  of  theirs  to  the  Protestant 
religion.  'Fne  Archbishop  of  Saltzbiirgh  hearing  of  them,  sent  some 
persons  into  the  country  to  examine  them,  and  to  exhort  them,  to  re- 
turn to  Mass,  and  to  threaten  Ihem  with  all  possible  severity  if  they 
continued  obstinate.  Perceiving  a  terribJc  storm  ready  to  break  upon 
them,  they  resoived  to  abandon  their  houses  and  all  they  had,  rather 
than  sin  a_>-ainst  their  consciences ;  and  the  whole  inhabitants  of  the 
valley,  oM  and  young,  to  the  number  of  two  thousand,  divided  them- 
selves into  several  bodies ;  some  intended  to  go  to  Brandenburgh,  others 
to  the  Palatinate,  and  about  five  hundred  took  the  road  to  Coire,  in- 
tending to  disperse  themselves  in  Switzerland.  The  Swiss  ministers 
told  me  they  verc  much  edified  by  thsir  simplicity  and  modesty;  for, 
a  collection  being  made  for  them,  they  desired  only  a  little  bread  to 
carry  them  on  their  way."    BumeVs  Letters,  p.  87 — JJ9.     Amst.  1686. 

Vot.  II.  3  H 


414  History  of  the  Christian  Church.        fcH.  vi 

impartiality  will  be  to  lay  before  tbe  reader  the  testimony 
of  Dr.  Burnet,  who  in  his  letters  from  Italy,  written,  as  it 
were,  at  the  very  moment,  and  from  the  very  scene  of 
action,  thus  proceeds: 

"There  is  one  thing  for  which  the  Swi<;s,  and  those 
of  the  Canton  of  Berne  in  particular,  cannot  be  sufficiently 
commended.  Ever  since  the  persecution  commenced  in 
France  (alluding  to  the  revocation  of  the  edict  of  Nantz) 
they  have  opened  a  sanctuary  to  such  as  retired  thither,  in 
so  generous  and  Christian  a  manner,  that  it  merits  all  the 
honourable  remembrance  that  can  be  made  of  it.  The 
ministers  and  others  that  had  been  condemned,  not  only 
found  here  a  kind  reception,  but  all  the  support  that  could 
be  expected,  and,  indeed,  much  more  than  could  reasonably 
have  been  expected.  They  assigned  to  the  French  minis- 
ters a  salary  of  five  crowns  per  months  if  single,  and,  in- 
creased it  to  such  as  have  wives  and  families,  so  that  some 
have  been  allowed  more  than  ten  crowns  a  month. —  And 
in  this  last  total  and  deplorable  dispersion  of  the  churches, 
the  whole  country  has  been  animated  with  such  a  spirit  of 
love  and  compassion,  that  every  man's  house  and  purse 
has  been  opened  to  the  refugees,  who  have  passed  thither 
in  such  numbers  that  sometimes  there  have  been  more  than 
two  thousand  in  Lausanne  alone,  and  of  these  there  were, 
at  one  time,  nearly  two  hundred,  ministers;  and  they  all 
met  with  a  kindness  and  frankness  of  heart  that  looked 
more  like  the  primitive  age  revived,  than  the  degenerate 
age  in  which  we  live."* 

Here,  however,  I  think  I  may  pause  and  draw  this  nar- 
rative towards  a  conclusion,  whicli  1  shall  do  by  offering  a 
few  obvious  reflections  on  the  whole  of  this  interesting  his- 
tory. And  the  first  thing  that  suggests  itself  is,  that  how- 
ever we  may  be  inclined  to  blame  the  conduct  of  the  Duke 
of  Savoy,  that  of  Louis  XIV.,  who  compelled  him  to  these 
sanguinary  proceedings,  is  entitled  to  our  chief  condemna- 
tion.    Referring  to  this  final  extirpation  of  the  Waldenses 

*  Dr.  Burnet's  Letters  from  Italy,  Letter  I.  p.  57  and  58. 


SECT,  nil.]    Arrogant  conduct  of  Louis  XIV.  415 

from  Piedmont,  our  countryman,  Dr.  Burnet,  who  was 
then  making  the  tour  of  the  Continent,  has  the  following 
remarks,  in  a  letter  which  he  dates  from  Turin,  to  a  friend 
in  this  country : 

"I  will  not  cngag-e,"  says  he,  "in  a  relation  of  this  last 
aflair  of  the  valleys  of  Piedmont;  for  I  could  not  find  par- 
ticulars enough  to  give  you  that  so  distinctly  as  you  might 
prohabh"  desire  it.  It  was  all  over  long  before  I  came  to 
Turin;  but  this  I  found,  that  all  the  court  ivere  ashamed  of 
the  matter;  and  they  took  pains  with  strangers,  not  without 
some  affectation,  to  convince  them  that  the  duke  was,  with 
great  difficulty,  forced  into  it — that  he  was  long  pressed  to 
it,  by  repeated  entreaties,  from  the  court  of  France — that 
he  excused  himself  from  complying  therewith,  representing 
to  the  court  of  France  the  constant  fidelity  of  the  Wal- 
denses  ever  since  the  last  edict  of  pacification,  and  their 
great  industry,  so  that  they  were  the  most  profitable  sub- 
jects that  the  duke  had,  and  that  the  body  of  men  which 
they  had  given  his  father  in  the  last  war  with  Genoa,  had 
done  great  service,  for  it  had  saved  the  whole  army.  But 
all  these  excuses  were  unavailable ;  for,  the  court  of  France 
having  broken  its  own  faith  which  had  been  pledged  to 
heretics,  and  therehi  manifested  how  true  a  respect  it  paid 
to  the  Council  of  Constance,  now  wished  to  engage  other 
princes  to  follow  this  new  pattern  of  fidelity  which  it  had 
set  the  world.  So  the  duke  was  not  only  pressed  to  ex- 
tirpate the  heretics  of  those  vallej's,  but  he  was  also  threat- 
ened that  if  he  would  not  do  it,  the  king  would  send  his 
own  troops  to  extirpate  heresy,  for  he  would  not  only  not 
suffer  it  in  his  own  kingdom,  but  would  even  drive  it  out  of 
his  neighbourhood.  He  who  told  me  all  this,  knowing  of 
what  country  I  was,  added,  that  probably  the  French  mo- 
narch might  very  soon  send  similar  messages  to  some  others 
of  his  neighbours  !* 


*  Dr.  Burnet's  Letters  from  Italy — Supplementary  Letters,  p.  162. 
Writteo  in  1687,  and  printed  tlie  following  year. 


416  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [ch.  vi. 

If  Louis  XIV.  had  any  such  favours  in  contemplation 
for  our  own  country,  as  those  that  are  hinted  at  in  the 
conclusion  of  the  foregoing  paragraph,  Britons  have  rea- 
son to  be  thankful  to  God  whose  overruling  providence 
frustrated  such  sanguinary  projects : — and  had  the  race  of 
the  Stuarts  continued  to  fill  the  British  throne,  it  is  more 
than  probable  that  the  horrible  scenes  of  Piedmont  had, 
indeed,  been  reacted  among  our  forefathers  in  tiiis  happy 
land.  But  the  glorious  revolution  which  gave  us  a  Pro- 
testant monarch,  took  place  in  1688,  the  very  year  after 
Dr.  Burnet  wrote  his  Supplementary  Letters,  from  which 
the  foregoing  extract  is  taken;  and  happily  saved  us  from 
all  danger  of  the  tyrant's  rage.  And  here,  with  a  few 
reflections,  I  close  the  history  of  the  Waldenses. 

Enough,  I  presume,  and  more  than  enough,  has  appeared 
in  the  preceding  pages  to  satisfy  any  unprejudiced  reader, 
that  the  extermination  of  the  churches  of  the  Waldenses  in 
Piedmont  was  the  act  of  the  King  of  France;  or,  if  the 
shadow  of  a  doubt  should  exist  upon  that  subject,  it  must 
for  ever  be  removed  by  a  careful  perusal  of  the  Duke  of 
Savoy's  letter  to  the  Duke  of  Orleans,  which  will  be  found 
in  the  Appendix  to  this  volume.*  In  fact  the  whole  of  the 
correspondence  between  the  court  of  Turin  and  that  of 
France,  which  I  have  there  given,  affords  such  damning 
proof  of  the  overwhelming  despotism  of  Louis  XIV.  to- 
wards the  Duke  of  Savoy,  that  the  indignation  which  at 
first  sight  one  is  tempted  to  indulge  against  the  latter,  is 
converted  into  pity  and  compassion  for  him;  and  horrible 
as  were  the  transactions  committed  under  his  reign,  every 
liberal  man  will  regard  him  as  a  sovereign  "more  sinned 
against  than  sinning."  But  let  a  reflecting  mind  contem- 
plate these  events  as  instigated  by  the  counsels  of  France 
and  perpetrated  by  the  power  of  her  arms;  let  them  be 
connected  in  idea  with  the  cruelties  inflicted  upon  the  Pro- 
testants in  France,  in  consequence  of  the  revocation  of  the 

*  See  Appendix,  No.  16. 


SECT.  VIII.]  Concluding  Remarks.  417 

edict  of  Nantz,  which  took  place  only  a  few  years  before ; 
and  if  he  believe  "there  is  a  God  who  judgeth  in  the  earth," 
he  will  find  little  difficulty  in  tracing  the  hand  of  distributive 
justice  in  the  series  of  calamities  which  have  now,A|r  nearly 
thirty  years,  afflicted  that  unhappy  country.  These  are 
topics  that  Christians  are  but  too  apt  to  overlook,  but  they 
are  of  serious  import  and  deserve  consideration. 

But  what  shall  we  say  of  ihe  court  of  Rome,  the  great 
moving  spring  in  all  this  machinery  of  complicated  villany: 
that  "holy  mother  church,"  which  kept  the  conscience  of 
Louis  XIV.  and  of  the  other  crowned  heads  who,  from  time 
to  time,  obsequiously  lent  their  aid  to  massacre  the  Wal- 
denses !  I  trust  I  may  be  permitted,  without  arrogance,  on 
this  occasion,  to  adopt  the  language  of  an  unknown  writer, 
who  reviewed  the  former  edition  of  this  history.  "The 
narrative  which  we  have  been  perusing,"  said  this  liberal 
and  enlightened  critic,  "leaves  on  the  mind  impressions  of 
the  utmost  detestation  for  the  spiritual  tyranny  exercised  by 
the  court  of  Rome.  Providence  never  made  use  of  so  ter- 
rible a  scourge  to  chastise  mankind.  No  power  ever  out- 
raged the  interests  of  society,  the  principles  of  justice,  and 
the  claims  of  humanity,  to  the  same  extent.  Never  did 
the  world  behold  such  blasphemy,  profligacy,  and  wanton- 
ness, as  in  the  proceedings  of  this  spiritual  domination.  It 
held  the  human  mind  in  chains,  visited  with  exemplary 
punishment  every  inroad  on  the  domains  of  ignorance,  and 
sunk  nations  into  a  state  of  stupidity  and  imbecility.  Its 
proscriptions,  massacres,  and  murders,  and  all  the  various 
forms  which  its  cruelties  assumed;  the  miseries  which  it 
heaped  on  the  objects  of  its  vengeance;  its  merciless  treat- 
ment of  them,  and  the  grasp  of  its  iron  sway,  seemed,  at 
one  time,  to  leave  no  room  to  hope  for  the  liberation  of  the 
human  race ;  and  surely  nothing  can  appear  more  hideous 
than  this  power  in  its  true  colours :  it  leaves  the  mind  full 
of  horror  at  its  cruelties."*     In  all  this  I  have  the  happiness 

*  Monthly  Review,  June,  1814,  p.  204. 


418  History  of  the  Christian  Church.  [ch.  vi. 

to  agree ;  and  though  I  have  rarely  ventured  to  express 
myself  in  terms  so  forcible  as  this  writer  has  done,  I  have 
no  hesitation  in  saying,  in  the  words  of  an  apostle — "This 
wiTNEssgK  TRUE."  But  I  desist :  and  now  take  leave  of 
the  subject  with  presenting  to  the  reader  one  exti*act  more 
from  the  learned  Dr.  Allix. 

"Never,"'says  this  excellent  writer,  "did  the  church  of 
Rome  give  a  more  incontestable  evidence  of  her  own  anti- 
christian  spirit,  than  by  her  insatiable  thirst  after  the  blood 
of  those  Christians,  who,  six  hundred  years  ago,  renounced 
her  communion :  and  to  allay  which  she  has  made  the  blood 
of  these  poor  innocent  creatures  every  where  to  run  down 
like  rivers,  exterminating,  by  fire  and  sword,  those  who 
were  not  terrified  by  her  anathemas.  During  this  long 
interval  the  Waldenses  have  ever  been  in  the  condition  of 
sheep  led  to  the  slaughter,  by  their  continual  and  uninter- 
rupted martyrdoms  maintaining  and  adorning  the  religion 
of  Christ  our  Saviour,  which  the  church  of  Rome  having 
forsaken,  now  sought  to  accommodate  to  her  corrupt  and 
worldly  interests,  and  to  the  design  she  had  formed  of 
making  it  a  stalking  horse  to  the  pomp,  lordliness,  and 
tyranny  of  her  Pope  and  clergy. 

"Whatever  reflections  the  members  of  the  church  of 
Rome  may  indulge  relative  to  the  circumstance  of  God's 
having  apparently  relinquished  these  poor  churches  to  the 
fury  of  their  cannibal  adversaries,  I  am  fully  persuaded 
that  those  who  have  made  the  conduct  of  divine  Providence 
towards  the  primitive  church  their  study,  will  not  be  stum- 
bled at  this  apparent  desertion  of  the  Waldenses,  and  their 
being  abandoned  to  the  outrageous  cruelty  of  their  perse- 
cutors, nor  regard  the  ostensible  triumphs  of  that  apostate 
church  as  any  indication  of  the  weakness  of  the  truth  pro- 
fessed by  the  Waldenses.  For  notwithstanding  the  extreme 
rigour  of  their  persecutions,  we  find  that  God  hath  tenderly 
preserved  them  till  the  Reformation ;  and  though  he  has 
often  exposed  them  to  the  rage  and  barbarous  usage  of 
their  persecutors,  yet  has  he,  from  time  to  time,  aiforded 


SECT,  vni.]  Concluding  Remarks.  419 

them  such  deliverances,  as  have  enabled  them  to  continue 
until  this  day.  Their  persecutions,  like  those  of  the  apos- 
tolic churches,  have  only  served  to  procure  martyrs  to  the 
truth  of  the  glorious  gospel,  and  to  disperse  throughout 
every  land  the  knowledge  and  savour  of  that  which  the 
Romish  party,  treading  in  the  steps  of  the  ancient  syna- 
gogue, so  cruelly  persecuted. 

"Let  the  Bishop  of  Meaux  then,  if  he  please,  insultingly 
tell  the  Protestants  to  go  and  look  for  their  ancestors  among 
the  Waldenses,  and  hunt  for  them  in  the  caverns  of  the 
Alps.  His  declamation  shall  never  make  us  forego  one 
jot  of  that  tender  veneration  and  respect  which  we  have 
so  justly  conceived  for  this  nursery  and  seed-plot  of  the 
martyrs,  and  for  those  valiant  troops  who  have  so  gene- 
rously lavished  their  blood  in  defence  of  the  truth  against 
all  the  eflbrts,  all  the  machinations,  and  all  the  violence  of 
the  Roman  Catholic  party.  The  judgment  that  St.  Hila- 
rius  expresses  in  his  writings  against  Auxentius,  ought  to 
be  sufficient  to  arm  us  against  all  the  cavils  of  those  who 
would  insinuate  that  it  is  impossible  the  church  should  lose 
its  purity,  or  that  this  purity  should  be  preserved  by  church- 
es reduced  to  caverns  and  mountains. — 'Of  one  thing  I 
must  carefully  warn  you,'  says  he,  '  beware  of  Antichrist ! 
It  is  ill  done  of  you  to  fall  in  love  with  walls.  It  is  ill  done 
of  you  to  reverence  the  church  of  God  in  buildings  and 
stately  edifices;  it  is  wrong  to  rest  in  these  things.  Can 
you  doubt  that  it  is  on  these  Antichrist  will  fix  his  throne.^ 
Give  me  mountains,  forests,  pits,  and  prisons,  as  being  far 
safer  places ;  for  it  was  in  these  that  the  prophets  prophe- 
sied BY  THE  Spirit  of  God.'  "* 

■■''  Dr.  AUix's  History  of  the  Churches  of  Piedmont,  p.  293 — 296. 


^pptntfif! 


♦ 


Vol.  II. 


A®3Faimia% 


CONTAINING 


PROOFS    AVID    ILLUSTRATIONS. 


No.  1. 

EDICT    OF    THE     DUKE    OF     SAVOY,    FOR     THE    EXTIRPATION 
OF    THE    WALDENSES,    JAN.    31,    1G86. 


Victor  Amadeus,  hy  the  grace   of  God,  Duke  of  Savoy 
and  of  Piedmont,  and  King  of  Cyprus. 

Political  as  well  as  Christian  prudence,  advises  us  very 
often  to  neglect,  in  some  manner,  the  ulcers  that  are  not 
yet  in  a  condition  to  be  healed,  and  that  might  be  made 
worse  by  a  precipitate  cure.  This  conduct  has  been  ob- 
served as  well  in  other  monarchies,  as  by  our  most  serene 
predecessors,  who  in  truth  had  never  any  other  design, 
than  to  rescue  their  subjects  professing  the  pretended  Re- 
formed Religion,  out  of  the  darkness  of  heresy,  which  by 
an  unhappy  vicissitude,  and  a  fatal  corruption  of  these 
times,  had  passed  from  the  very  centre  of  the  valleys  of 
Lucerne,  into  the  very  heart  of  Piedmont.  Nevertheless, 
by  reason  of  the  succours  which  the  zealots  of  that  religion 
received  from  foreign  countries,  tliis  holy  work  could  not 
be  brought  to  the  end  we  so  much  desired ;  insomuch  tliat 
«ot  having  been  able  to  purge  our  country  of  this  poison, 


424  Appendix. 

we  did  reduce  them  to,  and  shut  them  up  in  the  valleys  of 
Lucerne,  of  Angrogne,  of  St.  Martin,  of  Cernse,  of  St. 
Bartholomew,  of  Roccapiata,  and  of  Parustin  ;  and  by 
way  of  toleration,  we  did  sufier  them  to  exercise  there  their 
false  religion,  in  the  limits  before  prescribed  them,  accord- 
ing to  the  juncture  of  times,  till  it  should  please  God  Al- 
mighty to  give  us  a  favourable  opportunity  of  bringing 
back  those  misled  souls  into  the  bosom  of  the  Holy  and 
only  Catholic,  Apostohc,  and  Romish  Rehgion.  Yet  time 
has  discovered  how  much  it  was  necessary  to  cut  off  the 
numerous  heads  of  this  hydra,  since  the  said  heretics,  in- 
stead of  answering  this  favour  with  a  deep  submission,  and 
with  a  sincere  acknowledgment  of  this  kind  toleration, 
have  very  often  made  bold  to  be  disobedient,  to  a  scandal, 
and  to  rise  against  their  own  Sovereign. 

And  because  at  present  the  principal  cause  of  this  said 
toleration  is  now  removed  by  the  zeal  and  piety  of  the 
gloi'ious  monarch  of  France,  who  has  brought  back  to  the 
true  faith  his  neighbouring  heretics ;  we  think  the  particu- 
lar graces  we  have  received  from  his  Divine  Majesty,  and 
which  we  enjoy  still,  would  accuse  us  of  the  greatest  in- 
gratitude, if  by  our  negligence  we  should  let  slip  the  op- 
portunity of  executing  this  work,  according  to  the  inten- 
tion of  our  glorious  predecessors.  It  is  for  this,  and  seve- 
ral urgent  reasons,  that  by  virtue  of  this  present  Edict, 
with  our  full  knowledge,  and  by  our  absolute  power,  as 
also  by  the  advice  of  our  Council,  we  have  declared  and 
ordered,  and  do  declare  and  order  by  these  presents,  to  our 
subjects  of  the  pretended  Reformed  Religion,  to  desist  for 
the  future  from  all  the  exercise  of  the  said  religion.  And 
we  do  prohibit  them  further,  after  the  publishing  of  this 
Edict,  from  holding  any  assemblies  or  conventicles,  in 
any  place  or  particular  house,  to  exercise  the  said  religion, 
under  what  title,  pretext,  or  occasion  whatsoever,  under 
pain  of  their  lives,  and  confiscation  of  their  goods.  And 
we  ordain  also,  that  the  past  pretended  toleration  be  of  no 
efiect,  under  what  colour  or  pretence  whatsoever.     Our 


Proofs  and  Illustrations.  425 

will  is  also,  that  all  the  churches,  granges,  and  houses,  in 
which  at  present  the  said  religion  is  exercised,  sliall  be 
razed  to  the  ground ;  and  also  all  other  places  in  which 
for  the  future  such  assemblies  shall  be  held,  to  the  preju- 
dice of  what  the  precedent  articles  contain  ;  and  this  is  to  be 
executed,  though  the  owners  of  such  places  arc  ignorant 
thereof.  And  we  command  accordingly  that  all  ecclesiastics, 
ministers,  and  schoolmasters,  of  the  said  pretended  Reform- 
ed Religion,  who,  in  one  fortnight  after  the  publishing  this 
present  Edict,  do  not  effectually  embrace  the  Cathohc  Re- 
ligion, shall  retreat  out  of  our  territories  after  the  said  term 
be  past,  under  pain  of  death,  and  confiscation  of  their 
goods  :  with  express  command,  and  under  the  same  punish- 
ment, not  to  make,  within  the  said  time,  or  before  their  de- 
parture, any  sermon,  exhortation,  or  any  other  act  of  the 
said  religion.  And  furthermore,  we  forbid,  under  the  said 
punishment,  and  the  forfeiture  of  our  favour,  all  those  that 
make  profession  of  the  pretended  Reformed  Religion,  to 
keep  for  the  future  any  public  or  private  school ;  it  being 
our  intention,  that  from  this  very  time  their  children  shall 
be  instructed  by  Catholic  schoolmasters.  And  concerning 
the  ministers  who  within  the  said  time  shall  embi-ace  the 
Catholic  Religion,  our  will  and  pleasure  is,  that  during 
their  lives,  and  after  they  are  dead,  their  widows,  as  long 
as  they  shall  live  unmarried,  shall  enjoy  the  said  exemp- 
tions and  immunities  which  they  enjoyed  heretofore,  during 
the  exercise  of  their  charge.  And  our  will  is  over  and 
above,  that  to  the  said  ecclesiastics  who  shall  be  made  con- 
verts in  the  said  manner,  there  shall  be  paid  during  their 
life  a  pension  one  third  part  larger  than  the  salary  was 
which  they  enjoyed  in  quality  of  being  ministers  of  the 
said  religion ;  and  that  after  their  death  their  widows  enjoy 
one  half  of  the  said  pension  as  long  as  they  shall  continue 
unmarried.  And  concerning  the  children  that  shall  be 
born  by  father  and  mother  of  the  said  pretended  Reformed 
Religion,  our  intention  is,  that  after  the  publishing  this  pre- 
scHt  Edict,  they  shall  be  baptized  by  the  priests  of  the 


426  Appendix. 

parish  that  are  already,  or  that  shall  be  established  for  the 
future  In  the  said  valleys :  to  this  purpose,  we  command 
their  fathers   and  mothers  to  send  or  bring  them  to  the 
churches,  under  pain  of  being  sent  five  years  to  the  galleys 
for  their  fathers,    and    whipping   for  their   mothers ;  and 
moreover,  the  said  childi'en  shall  be  brought  up  in  the  said 
Catholic,  Apostolic,  and  Roman  Religion.     And  we  com- 
mand expressly   all    judges,    bailiffs,    gaolers,    and  other 
officers,  to  see  these  presents  duly  executed.     And  we  do 
confirm  also  the  Edict  we  have  published  the  4th  of  No- 
vember past,  concerning  the  subjects  of  His  Most  Christian 
Majesty  that  make   profession  of  the  pretended  Reformed 
Religion,  and  that  are  to  be  found  in  our  territories,  and  that 
have  left  their  merchandises,  money,  or  other  effects  behind 
them;  and  concerning  the  other  foreigners  of  the  said  religion, 
who,  to  the  prejudice  of  some  of  our  predecessors'  Edicts, 
have   established  themselves  in  the  valleys,   without  their 
consent  in  writing,  comprehending  therein  their  offspring 
that  are  born  there  :  we  command,  that  in  case,  within  one 
fortnight  after  the  publishing  this  present  Edict,  they  do 
not  declare  to  be  willing  to  embrace  the  Catholic,  Aposto- 
lic, and  Roman  Religion,  they  shall  be  obliged,  if  the  said 
term  shall  be  past,  to  retreat  out  of  our  territories,  under 
pain  of  death,  and  confiscation  of  their  goods.     And  though 
lawfully,  by  virtue  of  the  said  Edicts,  the  goods  which  the 
said  foreigners  have  acquired  in  our  territories  ought  to  be 
confiscated   for  our  royal  treasury  ;  nevertheless   we  are 
willing  in  this  case  to  show  our  accustomed  clemency,  and 
to  give  them  leave  to  sell  their  said  goods  (if  they  please) 
within  the  said  term,   and  to  dispose  of  the  same  as  they 
think  convenient ;  yet  upon  these  conditions,  that  the  sell- 
ing the  immoveable  goods  shall  only  be  made  in  favour  of 
the  Catholics  ;  but   in  case  they  shall  find  no  buyer,  they 
shall  be  looked  upon  as  sold,  and  united  to  our  dominions 
under  a  reasonable  price.     Finally,  we  command  all  the 
magistrates  established  by   us,  ministers  of  state,  officers, 
judges,  and  all  others  whom  it  concerns,  to  see  this  present 


Proofs  and  Illustrations.  427 

Edict  inviolably  observed ;  and  so  to  order  the  same,  thai 
the  council  of  Piedmont  may  enrol  it,  and  give  their  full 
approbation  of  what  is  contained  therein.  Moreover,  our 
will  is,  that  the  publishing  made  hereof  in  the  accustomed 
places,  and  in  the  ordinary  manner,  shall  have  the  same 
virtue  as  if  it  had  been  made  known  to  every  particular 
person ;  and  that  there  be  the  same  observance  paid  to  the 
copy  hereof,  printed  by  Sinibal  our  printer,  as  to  this  my 
original  itself;  for  this  is  our  will.  Given  at  Turin, 
Jan.  31,  1686. 

VICTOR  AMADEUS. 
By  his  Royal  Highness's 

Command.  Dest.  Thomas. 


No.  2. 


MEMORIAL  against  the  foregoing  Edict.^  presented  to  the 
Court  of  Savoy,  by  Caspar  de  INIuratt,  and  Bernard 
DE  MuRATT,  Counsellors  of  State,  the  first  of  Zurich,  and 
the  other  of  Berne,  in  Switzerland. 

Whereas  the  Right  Honourable  the  Ministers  of  State 
of  his  Royal  Highness,  have  given  us  to  understand,  upon 
a  private  information  of  our  reasons,  that  his  present  en- 
gagement, and  into  which  he  did  not  enter  but  by  the  ne- 
cessity of  the  present  juncture  of  the  times,  was  a  great  ob- 
stacle to  the  success  of  our  negotiation ;  we  find  ourselves 
obliged  to  represent  to  your  Royal  Highness,  that  the 
churches  of  the  valleys  in  Piedmont,  did  not  separate  them- 
selves from  the  rehgion  of  their  pruice;  because  they  live 
in  that  they  received  from  their  predecessors  about  eight 
centuries  ago,  and  which  they  did  profess  before  they  were 
under  the  dominion  of  your  Royal  Highness's  ancestors, 
who  having  found  them  in  the  possession  of  their  religion, 
have  maintained  them  therein  by  several  Declarations,  and 


428  Appendix. 

principally  by  those  of  the  years  1561,  1602,  and  1603, 
which  having  been  enrolled  by  the  parliament  of  Chambe- 
ry,  in  the  year  1620,  for  the  sum  of  six  thousand  French 
ducats,  which  these  churches  paid  them,  as  the  very  act  of 
enrolling  mentions  ;  their  right  passed  into  a  form  of  trans- 
action, and  into  a  perpetual  and  irrevocable  law,  which  has 
been  observed  during  the  life  of  his  Royal  Highness  Victor 
Amadeus,  and  during  the  regency  of  Madam  Royal,  who 
confirmed  them  by  her  Declaration  in  the  year  1638. 
These  churches  have,  in  following  times,  obtained  several 
other  favourable  Declarations  of  his  Royal  Highness, 
Charles  Emanuel,  of  glorious  memory,  your  Royal  High- 
ness's  father,  in  particular,  in  the  year  1649  and  1653. 
But,  whereas,  to  the  prejudice  of  a  right  so  well  established 
by  a  possession  immemorial,  and  by  so  many  Declarations, 
the  Sieur  Gastaldo  did  nevertheless,  in  the  month  of  Fe- 
bruary, 1655,  publish  a  Declaration,  that  produced  some 
terrible  and  fatal  consequences  to  these  poor  churches  :  all 
the  Protestant  Kings,  Princes  and  States  of  Europe,  and 
particularly  our  Sovereign  Lords,  did  concern  themselves 
in  their  misfortune,  and  having  interceded  in  their  favour 
with  his  Royal  Highness,  Charles  Emanuel,  they  obtained  a 
confirmation  of  their  privileges  and  of  their  concessions, 
by  two  solemn,  perpetual,  and  inviolable  patents,  of  the 
year  1655  and  1664,  enrolled  in  a  good  form,  and  confirm- 
ed by  the  letters  he  did  write  to  our  Sovereign  Lords,  the 
28th  of  February,  1664,  by  which  he  promised  them  to  see 
these  patents  faithfully  executed;  to  which  the  Royal  Ma- 
dam, your  Royal  Highness's  mother,  did  engage  herself  also, 
by  her  letters  dated  January  the  28th,  1679.  Therefore, 
because  your  Royal  Highness's  ancestors  had  several  times 
solemnly  engaged  their  royal  word,  principally  in  those 
patents  that  were  granted  in  the  presence  of  the  ambassa- 
dors our  Sovereigns  had  sent  for  that  purpose,  it  would  not 
be  just  to  break  so  many  formal  and  authentic  engagements, 
not  only  because  these  privileges  and  patents,  being  grant- 
ed in  the  sight  of  all  Europe,  and  by  the  mediation  and  in- 


•    Proofs  and  Illustrations.  429 

tercession  of  several  kings,   princes,   and  states,  they  are 
pledges  and  perpetual  monuments  of  the  public  faith  ;  but 
also,  because  the  words  and  promises  of  Sovereigns  ought 
to  be  sacred  and  inviolable.     If  engagements  of  this  na- 
ture might  be   annulled  under  pretence  of  a  necessity,  to 
which  the  juncture  of  afiairs  might  reduce  a  prince,  or  of 
some   convenience   and  advantage  to  the  estate,  then  there 
would  be  nothing  secure  in  the  world,  and  nothing  would 
be  seen  there,   but  war  and  confusion.     This  maxim  being 
once  established  amongst  Sovereigns,  the  Protestant  prin- 
ces might  as  lawfully  destroy  the  Catliolics  that  are  under 
their  dominions,  as  the  Catholics  would  have  a  right  to  ex- 
tirpate their  Protestant  subjects.     Therefore  it  is  evident, 
that  whether  we  examine  the  thing,  as  relating  to  the  glory 
and  reputation  of  the  prince ;  or  if  we  consider  it  according 
to  the  principles  of  true  and  just  policy,  that  has  no  other 
end  than   the   security  of  sovereign  nations  and  states,  we 
shall  find  that  the  words  of  princes  ought  always  to  be  in- 
violable.    It  is  for   this  reason  that  we  are  persuaded,  that 
no  necessity  of  the  present  juncture,  nor  any  interest  will 
oblige  so  just,  so  gracious,   and  so  wise  a  prince,  as  your 
Royal  Highness,  to  follow  a  new  engagement,  that  does  not 
only  destroy  all  your  predecessors  have  done  in  the  eyes  of 
the   whole  universe,  but  that  exposes  also  your  own  state 
and   subjects  to   the  flames,  butchery,  calamities,  devasta- 
tion,   and  to   the   most  cruel  and  inhuman  rage  and  ty- 
ranny. 

It  is  agreed,  that  it  is  natural  for  a  pious  prince  to  wish 
there  was  but  one  religion  in  his  comitry ;  and  that  being 
persuaded  that  his  own  is  the  true  one,  it  doth  belong  to  his 
duty  and  charity  to  do  all  he  can  to  persuade  his  subjects 
to  it.  But  it  ought  to  be  allowed  also,  that  religion  enters 
into  our  hearts  by  means  of  persuasion,  and  not  by  force ; 
and  that  to  convince  one  of  the  Divine  Truth,  there  ought 
to  be  employed  nothing  but  instruction,  sweetness,  and  ex- 
hortation, according  to  the  practice  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  and  his  Apostles. 

Vol.  II.  3  K 


430  Appendix. 

That  kings  and  princes,  though  they  are  masters  of  their 
subjects,  yet  they  have  no  empire  over  their  consciences, 
which  arc  subject  alone  to  God;  insomuch  that  we  have 
reason  to  hope,  that  your  Royal  Highness,  far  from  forcing 
your  subjects  to  do  things  against  their  consciences,  you 
will  be  pleased,  on  the  contrary,  to  restore  them  their  peace, 
which  we  implore  for  them,  to  confirm  their  privileges, 
and  to  let  them  enjoy  the  liberty  to  give  God  that  which 
is  due  to  him,  whilst  at  the  same  time  they  pay  your  Royal 
Highness  that  respect  and  homage  which  they  owe  you,  as 
your  faithful  subjects. 

My  Lords,  the  ministers  of  state,  have  told  us  also,  that 
the  inhabitants  of  the  valleys  had  rendered  themselves  un- 
worthy of  their  prince's  favour.  But  besides  that  all  the 
world  agrees,  that  before  the  publishing  of  the  first  Edict, 
they  had  given  your  Royal  Highness  no  reason  of  com- 
plaint ;  and  that,  consequently,  it  is  not  their  ill-conduct  has 
drawn  upon  them  so  rigorous  an  order;  and  that  if  there 
were  some  amongst  them  that  had  committed  a  fault,  (which 
we  are  yet  ignorant  of,)  we  ought  not  to  be  surprised,  if 
some  miserable  wretches,  that  are  brought  to  despair,  should 
do  some  imprudent  actions.  Besides  all  this,  we  say,  your 
Royal  Highness  is  too  gracious  and  too  good  not  to  pardon 
faults  of  this  nature ;  and  too  just  and  equitable  to  punish 
the  public  for  an  excess  that  may  have  been  committed  by 
some  particular  persons. 

In  fine,  they  would  make  us  believe,  that  those  patents 
his  Royal  Highness  Charles  Emanuel  granted  in  the  years 
1655  and  1G64,  did  not  concern  religion,  but  gave  them 
leave  only  to  inhabit  some  certain  places  in  the  valleys;  and 
that,  consequently,  our  Sovereign  Lords,  and  the  other 
princes  thtt  were  mediators  in  this  afiair,  had  no  inte- 
rest in  it.  But  we  beg  your  Royal  Highness  to  consider, 
first,  that  religion  was  then  so  much  the  subject  of  the  ques- 
tion, that  properly  no  other  things  did  belong  to  it;  for  be- 
sides that  the  order  of  the  Sieur  Gastaldo,  that  produced 
so  many  dismal  consequences,  did  destroy  these  concessions 


Proofs  and  Illustrations.  431 

that  were  granted  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  valleys  about 
religion,  it  was  pretended  at  that  time  to  force  them  to  do 
things  against  their  conscience,  because  they  were  threaten- 
ed with  death,  and  confiscation  of  their  goods,  that  would 
not  embrace  the  Catholic  Religion  within  twenty  days  after 
they  were  ordered  to  do  it. 

Secondly,  all  the  mediation  and  intercession  of  the  Pro- 
testant princes  and  states,  were  only  grounded  on  things 
concerning  religion  and  conscience.  They  have  only  act- 
ed according  to  this  principle,  and  the  ambassadors  were 
for  no  other  reason  received  and  heard,  but  by  reason  of 
the  interest  they  took  in  a  business  concerning  religion: 
and  it  is  for  this  reason,  that  3'our  Royal  Highness's  prede- 
cessors have  given  several  assurances,  by  letters  to  their  Ex- 
cellencies the  Evangelical  Cantons,  that  the  patents  granted 
upon  their  request  should  be  punctually  and  faithfully  exe- 
cuted. 

And,  because  to  the  prejudice  of  all  that  has  been  grant- 
ed them,  your  Royal  Highness  has  published  an  Edict  that 
forbids  them  the  exercise  of  their  religion  in  all  the  valleys, 
under  pain  of  death ;  that  commands  the  demolishing  all 
the  churches,  that  banishes  the  ministers  and  schoolmasters, 
that  commands  that  the  children  shall  be  baptized,  and 
brought  up  in  the  Romish  Religion,  and  that  deprives  by 
these  means  those  people  of  their  liberty  of  conscience :  our 
Sovereign  Lords,  that  are  united  to  the  churches  of  the 
valleys  by  the  same  faith,  are  obliged  to  continue  to  inter- 
cede for  them :  and  it  is  thus  we  do  now  in  their  name,  in 
hopes  that  your  Royal  Highness  will  be  touched  by  some 
consideration  of  our  Sovereign  Lords,  and  by  some  com- 
passion for  your  subjects. 


The  following  Letters,  No.  3,  4,  5,  6,  7,  and  8,  relate 
to  the  negotiations  of  the  Swiss  commissioners,  between  the 
churches  of  the  valleys  and  the  court  of  Savoy,  and  tend  to 


432  Appendix. 

throw  considerable  light  upon  the  unhappy  and  distracted 
state  of  afi'airs  at  this  eventful  period. 


No.  3. 

From  the  Commissioners,  to  the  Waldenses. 

We  do  not  doubt  but  that  your  deputies  have  faithfully 
acquainted  you  vi^ith  our  sentiments,  which  are  not  grounded 
according  to  our  opinion,  but  upon  the  public  good  of  your 
commonalties ;  and  whereas,  since  our  arrival  at  Turin,  we 
have  been  informed  there  of  several  things  that  confirm  us 
that  our  apprehension  for  you  is  just;  that  our  advice  is 
good  and  profitable;  we  hope  that  you  will  follow  the 
counsel  we  have  given  to  your  deputies,  being  persuaded 
that  God  by  his  divine  providence  will  find  out  for  you  a 
retreat,  where  you  will  find  all  the  necessary  supports  of 
life  and  liberty,  to  serve  him  in  his  fear,  and  according  to 
your  consciences;  and  since  you  know,  that  the  present 
state  of  your  affairs  requires  a  prompt  remedy,  and  that 
there  is  not  a  moment  to  be  lost  to  obtain  it  from  your 
prince ;  we  found  it  very  necessary  to  dispatch  immediately 
our  Secretary  to  acquaint  you,  that  his  Royal  Highness 
did  not  find  it  convenient  to  grant  passports  for  your  de- 
puties; therefore  we  desire  you  to  send  us  immediately 
your  resolution  in  writing,  for  fear,  if  you  should  protract 
it,  our  services  would  be  no  more  respected  at  court,  and 
that  you  would  render  them  unsuccessful  to  procure  you  a 
free  and  advantageous  retreat,  for  which  (if  you  desire  it) 
we  will  address  ourselves  to  his  Royal  Highness  with  all 
possible  care  and  affection,  &;c. 


Proofs  and  Illustrations.  43-3 

No.  4. 

From  the  Waldenses^  to  the  Swiss  Commissioners. 

My  Lords, 

We  have  received  the  letters  which  your  Excellencies 
have  done  us  the  honour  to  send  us  by  the  Secretary  of  your 
embassy,  and  have  been  made  sensible  by  him  of  the  ex- 
traordinary care  your  Excellencies  have  taken  to  represent 
to  his  Royal  Highness,  our  Sovereign,  and  his  ministers  of 
state,  all  the  reasons  that  were  most  capable  to  maintain  us 
in  our  right,  as  also  the  answers  made  upon  the  reproaches 
of  our  conduct,  as  well  in  general  of  all  the  valleys,  as  of 
some  particular  persons,  for  which  we  cannot  but  render  to 
your  Excellencies  all  the  most  humble  thanks  which  the 
most  grateful  persons  can  be  capable  of.  In  the  mean-time 
we  have  exercised  all  possible  reflection  on  the  subject  of 
your  letter ;  and  on  what  side  soever  we  turn  our  eyes,  we 
find  very  great  and  almost  insurmountable  difficulties,  which 
we  have  made  bold  to  set  down  in  the  enclosed  Memorial, 
which  we  humbly  desire  your  Excellencies  to  take  into 
your  wise  consideration.  We  are  entirely  persuaded  that 
your  Excellencies  have  no  other  end  but  to  find  some  solid 
expedient  for  these  poor  churches.  They  cannot  but  make 
their  humble  entreaty,  that  in  case  it  be  impossible  to  re- 
voke the  published  Edict,  or  to  find  some  equitable  mo- 
deration of  it,  you  would  have  the  kindness  to  follow  these 
other  expedients  which  you  will  judge  most  proper  for  the 
conservation  of  those  that  rely  altogether  upon  your  con- 
duct, after  having  surveyed  the  difficulties  which  the  said 
Memorial  mentions.  This  is,  my  Lords,  the  general  senti- 
ment of  those  churches,  who  will  never  desist  to  pray  the 
Divine  Majesty  for  the  prosperity  of  the  sacred  persons  of 
your  Excellencies,  and  the  happy  success  of  your  holy  em- 
ployment.    These  are  the  prayers  of, 

My  Lords, 
Your  most  humble,  most  obedient,  and  most  obHged 


434 


Appendix. 


Servants,  the  Ministers  and  Deputies  of  the  Evan- 
gelical Churclies  of  Piedmont. 

SiDERAC  Bastie,  Moderator. 
David  Leger,  Adjoint. 
Jean  Chauvie,  Secretary. 


MINISTERS. 

Jean  Laurens. 
Jean  Jahier. 
G.  Manelof. 
P.  Leydet. 
P.  Jahier. 
Giraud. 
Bertrand. 

Angrogne, 
March  28,  1G86. 


DEPUTIES. 

Jean  Manelot. 

Jacques  Peyrot. 

Jean  Baptiste  Roberto. 

Etienne  Gautier. 

Paid  Beax. 

Jean  Pierre  Guantan. 

Daniel  Alberan. 


No.  5. 


From  the  Commissioners ,  to  the  Waldenses. 

Gentlemen, 

According  to  your  intention  which  you  acquainted  us 
with  in  your  letter  of  the  28th  of  March,  and  the  inclosed 
Memorial,  we  have  desired  of  his  Royal  Highness,  that  he 
would  be  pleased  to  grant  you  leave  to  retreat  out  of  his 
territories,  and  to  dispose  of  all  your  goods;  and  to  that 
purpose  to  give  us  some  commissioners,  with  power  to 
regulate  the  manner  of  your  retreat:  whereof  his  Royal 
Highness  has  given  us  to  understand  by  one  of  his  ministers, 
that  being  your  Sovereign,  he  could  not,  without  making  a 
breach  into  his  honour  and  authority,  enter  into  a  treaty 
with  you;  but  that  it  was  requisite  you  should  send  him 
five  or  six  persons,  with  full  power  to  make  him  that  sub- 


Proofs  and  Illustrations.  436 

mission  which  you  owe  him;  and  to  asii.  by  a  petition,  what 
favour  you  desire  should  be  granted  to  you;  and  that  after- 
wards he  will  let  3"ou  sec  the  considerations  he  has  for  our 
sovereignty.  It  is  true,  that  we  expected  a  more  favour- 
able answer  than  this ;  but  nevertheless,  to  take  away  all 
pretences  his  Royal  Highness  could  take  hold  on,  to  make 
such  deliberations  that  might  be  fatal  to  you,  we  think  you 
will  do  well  to  send  your  Deputies  hither  as  soon  as  is  pos- 
sible, promising  you  that  we  will  assist  them  with  our  coun- 
sels in  the  delivering  their  petition.  Our  Secretary  is,  to 
deliver  you  this  letter,  with  the  inclosed  passports,  which 
will  acquaint  you  more  at  length  with  the  particulars  of  our 
negotiation,  and  with  the  disposition  of  the  Court  in  your 
regard,  he. 


No.  6. 

From  the  Waldenses,  to  the  Commissioners. 

Most  High,  Mighty,  and  Sovereign  Lords, 

In  consequence  of  the  letter  your  Excellencies  have  been 
pleased  to  write  to  these  valleys  some  few  days  ago,  our 
churches  of  St.  Jean,  Angrogne,  and  Boby,  throw  them- 
selves at  your  feet,  to  assure  you  of  their  humble  respect, 
and  of  their  due  acknowledgements  of  the  favours  your 
Excellencies  have  endeavoured  to  obtain  for  them,  from 
his  Royal  Highness,  our  Sovereign,  concerning  the  con- 
tinuation of  the  exercise  of  our  religion  in  these  places. 
And  concerning  the  proposals  that  are  now  on  foot,  having 
been  incapable  of  persuading  our  people  to  come  to  the 
same  sentiments  which  the  other  churches  have,  in  order  to 
comply  with  your  Excellencies  demands,  we  have  charged 
our  Deputy,  Mr.  Daniel  Blanchis,  Syndicus  of  the  com- 
monalty of  St.  Jean,  to  acquaint  you  by  word  of  mouth, 
of  our  true  sentiments.     And  we  humbly  beseech  you,  that 


436  Appendix. 

you  would  be  pleased  to  continue  the  effects  of  your  inex- 
pressible and  paternal  kindness,  and  principally  in  regard 
to  your  powerful  intercession  with  his  Royal  Highness, 
about  the  above-mentioned  sirbject :  beseeching  the  Lord 
to  bless  your  negotiation,  and  to  be  your  abundant  re- 
warder  for  all  the  cares,  pains,  and  troubles  your  Excel- 
lencies have  the  goodness  to  take  for  our  poor  flocks,  in 
the  name  of  which  we  make  it  always  our  glory  to  carry 
with  all  respect  and  submission  imaginable,  the  title  of 
your  Excellencies  most  humble,  most  obedient,  and  much 
obliged  Servants,  the  Deputies  of  the  following  churches, 

Michael  Purise, 
Jean  Muston, 
Of  the  Church  of  St.  Jean. 

Jean  PuTTA,/or  Angrogne. 

Marque  de  Daniel, 
Negrin  N.  Syndicus, 
Franc.  Dane,   Counsellor, 
Stephen  Pertin,  Deputy, 
Of  the  Church  of  Boby. 

Angrogne,  April  4,  1686. 


Monsieur  de  la  Bastie,  minister  at  Angrogne,  touched 
by  the  divisions  of  these  poor  churches,  wrote  to  the  Am- 
bassadors in  the  following  terms  : 

No.  7. 
My  Lords, 

I  take  the  liberty  to  tender  your  Excellencies  my  most 
humble  respects,  by  the  Deputies  that  go  to  Turin,  to  make 
their  submission  to  his  Royal  Highness,  and  to  present  him 
such  a  petition  as  your  Excellencies  will  think  fit.  I  and  my 
brethren  are  in  the  greatest  consternation  and  affliction  in 


Proofs  and  Illustrations.  437 

the  world,  to  see  our  people  so  much  divided  about  a  re- 
treat, apprehending  their  divisions  will  defeat  your  Excel- 
lencies' charitable  negotiation  with  his  Royal  Higlniess  in 
our  behalf,  and  render  your  cares  and  troubles  unsuccess- 
ful. We  have  employed  our  utmost  endeavours  to  make 
them  sensible  that,  considering  the  present  juncture  of 
affairs,  it  was  the  best  resolution  they  could  take ;  but  we 
have  not  been  happy  enough  to  have  like  success  with  all. 
If  we  were  not  satisfied  of  your  Excellencies'  incompara- 
ble kindness,  we  should  have  reason  to  fear  that  this  indis- 
creet conduct  would  much  change  your  goodness  and  zeal 
for  our  interest.  We  most  huml;)ly  beseech  your  Excel- 
lencies to  make  use  on  this  occason  of  your  goodness  and 
clemency,  and  to  continue  in  your  indefatigable  cares  for 
these  poor  churches.  I  most  humbly  beg  your  Excellen- 
cies' pardon  for  my  boldness,  and  beseech  you  to  give  me 
leave  to  tender  you  my  most  humble  respects,  and  to  as- 
sure you,  that  I  am  with  all  the  respect  and  submission 
imaginable, 

My   Lords, 

Your  Eccellencies'  most  humble,  most  obedient, 
and  most  obliged  Servant, 

SiDRAC  Bastie,  Minister. 

Angrogne,  April  4,  1686. 


The  following  admirable  letter  was  drawn  up  by  the 
Swiss  commissioners,  in  consequence  of  the  diiference  of 
opinion  that  existed  among  the  Waldenses  about  quitting 
the  valleys.  It  certainly  reflects  great  honour  upon  their 
memories,  and  shows  them  to  have  been  men  of  a  right 
spirit.  It  was  sent  back  into  the  valleys  by  the  hands  of 
the  deputy  of  the  church  of  Bobio. 

Vot.  II.  3  L 


438  A2)pendix. 

No.  8. 
Gentlemen, 

It  is  true  that  one's  native  soil  has  great  charms,  and 
that  most  men  have  a  natural  desire  to  live  and  die  there ; 
yet  the  children  of  God  ought  not  to  set  their  hearts  there- 
upon, because  they  are  foreigners  \ipon  earth,  and  heaven 
is  their  true  native  country  ;  therefore  you  will  be  guilty  of 
mistrusting   God's   providence,  if  you   fancy  you  cannot 
find  any  other  country  where  yon  may  live  conveniently, 
and   adore  your   heavenly  Father.     In  what  part  of  the 
world  soever  we   ourselves   be   transported,  we   ought  to 
think  ourselves  happy,  provided  we  there  have  freedom  to 
serve  God  according  to   our  consciences.     You  ought  to 
propose  to  yourselves  the  examples  of  the  patriarchs,  who 
have  drawn   upon   them   God's  blessing  by  trusting  to  his 
promises,  and  by  abandoning  their  houses  and  fields,  to  go 
to  inhabit  some  remote  country.     A  confidence  of  this  na- 
ture, cannot  but  be  very  acceptable  to  the  Lord  ;  and  it  is 
without  doubt  more  agreeable  with  the  spirit  of  the  Gospel, 
than  to  take  up  arms  against  your  Sovereign  ;  it  is  to  suf- 
ferings that  Christians  are  called,  and  not  to  a  resistance; 
and  we  do  not  find  that  either  the  apostles,  or  the  primitive 
church,  made  use  of  any  other  weapons  against  their  per- 
secutors than  prayer  and  patience.     These  are  the  consi- 
derations that  have  obliged  our  Sovereign  Lords,  the  evan- 
gelical  cantons,  to  give  us  orders  to  procure  for  you  from 
his  Royal  Highness,  your  lawful  prince,  a  free  retreat,  with 
permission  to  dispose  of  your  goods,  in  case  he  would  no 
longer  grant  you  the  exercise  of  your  religion;  and  though 
you   look   upon   this   retreat  as  an  insupportable  unhappi- 
ness,  yet  they  do  nevertheless  consider  it  as  a  favour,  re- 
flecting, according  to  their  great  wisdom,  upon  the  misera- 
ble condition  to  which  you  are  reduced  ;  and  indeed  they 
did  think  that  it  would  be  very  hard  to  obtain  it  from  his 
Royal  Highness,  and   that   in  case  he  did   grant  it  upon 
their  request,  you  ought  not  only  to  accept  it  with  submis- 


Proofs  and  Illustrations.  439 

sion,  but  to  show  your  greit  acknowledgment  for  it ;  you 
cannot,  theielbre,  doubt,  that  we  have  been  surprised  to  hear 
that  you  have  any  difliculty  in  resolving  yourselves  to  it, 
and  that  you  have  a  design  to  resist  two  powerful  princes  that 
are  resolved  to  extirpate  30U,  in  case  you  make  the  least 
opposition ;  for  by  this  behaviour  you  do  not  only  act 
against  your  duty,  against  Christian  prudence,  and  against 
your  true  interest,  but  you  give  us  also  just  reasons  to  com- 
plain of  you,  that  having  engaged  us  in  a  negotiation  with 
your  prince,  you  will  not  accept  of  those  advantages  we 
are  in  a  condition  to  procure  you.  Open  therefore  your 
eyes,  and  consider  the  misfortunes  you  draw  upon  your- 
selves, and  the  latal  consequences  of  your  design,  that  must 
needs  turn  to  the  entire  destruction  of  your  churches  and 
families.  Consider,  that  what  is  offered  you,  is  so  advan- 
tageous, considering  tiie  present  stdte  of  your  affairs,  that 
several  persons  of  the  greatest  quality,  would  have  accept- 
ed of  it  as  the  greatest  happiness,  in  the  late  persecutions 
of  France,  and  that  tlie}'  would  have  been  exceedingly  joy- 
ful to  get  stark  naked  out  of  their  country  without  hin- 
drance. If  you  properly  reflect  upon  all  these  things,  we 
hope  that  the  example  of  those  that  are  of  a  better  opinion 
will  touch  and  persuade  you  to  follow  the  same  conduct; 
but  if  you  refuse  to  imitate  it,  and  if  you  persist  in  your 
obstinacy,  you  will  be  guilty  before  God,  not  only  of  ha- 
ving thrown  away  your  lives,  which  you  might  have  saved, 
and  of  having  exposed  your  wives  and  your  children  to  the 
massacre,  but  also  of  having  caused  the  ruin  of  these 
noble  remains  of  the  Waldensian  churches,  which  you 
might  have  transported  into  some  other  country.  And  do 
not  flatter  yourselves  with  being  able  to  prevent  these  evils 
by  the  means  of  some  succours  that  some  persons  have 
promised  you;  for  we  do  assure  you,  that  those  that  en- 
tertain you  with  these  vain  imaginations  only  abuse  you, 
and  that  you  cannot  be  assisted  from  any  side  :  you  ought 
to  consider,  that  you  will  be  left  by  all  men,  and  by  some  of 
the  very  inhabitants  of  your  country  ;  and  that  therefore  you 


440  Appendix. 

will  soon  be  destroyed,  either  by  the  sword  or  by  famine^ 
and  that  those  that  may  escape  the  fury  of  their  enemies, 
will  finish  their  lives  either  by  being  burnt  at  the  stake, 
upon  the  rack,  or  the  gallows.  We  conjure  you,  that  you 
would  be  prevailed  with  by  such  powerful  considerations, 
and  to  agree  with  the  sentiments  of  the  commonalty,  that 
are  resolved  to  desire  of  their  prince  a  permission  to  re- 
treat out  of  his  territories,  being  persuaded  that  the  divine 
providence  will  conduct  you  to  some  places  where  3'ou  will 
perhaps  find  more  advantageous  establishments  than  those 
you  leave  behind  you ;  and  where  those  that  are  poor  will 
not  be  in  want  of  charitable  persons  that  will  provide  them 
with  all  necessaries.  In  expectation  that  God  will  inspire 
you  with  good  I'esolutions,  and  that  you  will  give  to  your 
Deputy  such  a  procuration  as  those  of  tlie  other  common- 
alties have  given,  we  recommend  you  to  his  mercy  and  his 
divine  protection,  resting.  Gentlemen,  your  very  affec- 
tionate to  render  you  service. 

Turin,  5th  of  April. 


No.  9. 

SECOND      EDICT      FKOM     THE      DUKE      OF      SAVOY.         DATEi> 

APRIL  9,    168G. 

Divine  providence  having  established  Sovereigns  above 
the  people,  has  given  to  the  first  the  distribution  of  favours 
and  punishments,  that  the  hopes  of  the  one  might  make  the 
good  mindful  of  their  duty,  and  that  the  sense  of  the  other 
might  prevent  the  bad  from  abandoning  themselves  to  evil. 
This  latter  ought  to  fall  from  our  avenging  hands  upon  our 
subjects  of  the  valleys  of  Lucerne,  who  make  profession  of 
the  pretended  Reformed  Religion ;  because  it  is  notorious 
that  they  have  not  only  gainsayed  with  great  obstinacy  our 
Order  of  the  3ist  January  last,  but  that  they  have  also  har- 


Proofs  and  Illustrations.  441 

dened  themselves  in  their  crime,  and  are  fallen  into  an  enor- 
mous and  consummate  rebellion  ;  nevertheless  our  natural 
clemency  surpassing  their  crime,  and  not  contenting  our- 
selves with  our  fatherly  kindness,  with  which  we  have  so 
long  time  unsuccessful  1}'  waited  for  tlielr  repentance,  we 
have  still  been  willing  to  leave  to  their  will,  (which  has 
ever  followed  bad  counsels)  the  choice  of  a  happy  or  mise- 
rable condition,  and  to  open  to  them  at  the  last  trial  the 
gates  of  our  favour,  that  so  they  may  be  able  to  take  hold 
of  it  in  the  following  manner,  and  that  in  case  they  should 
not  answer  it  by  a  ready  obedience,  they  might  not  be  able 
to  impute  to  any  thing  but  their  own  rashness,  their  de- 
served punishments,  which  we  shall  intlict  upon  them  with- 
out delay. 

Therefore,  confirming  in  the  first  place  our  Order  of  the 
31st  of  January  last,  as  far  as  it  shall  not  be  found  contrary 
to  this,  we  have  by  virtue  of  this  present  Edict,  with  our 
certain  knowledge,  full  power  and  absolute  authority,  and 
with  advice  of  our  privy  council,  commanded  all  our  sub- 
jects of  the  valleys  of  Lucerne,  making  profession  of  the 
pretended  Reformed  Religion,  to  lay  down  their  arms, 
and  to  retire  into  their  houses  within  the  term  hereafter  pre- 
scribed. 

We  command  them  also  to  form  no  more  associations, 
nor  to  hold  any  conventicles;  that  so,  according  to  our  in- 
tention, the  judges  of  the  place  may  have  free  access,  and 
that  the  missionaries  and  other  religious  persons  may  return 
to  the  churches  which  they  have  been  forced  to  leave,  and 
that  the  Catholics,  and  those  which  have  embraced  the  Ca- 
tholic Religion,  may  return  to  their  houses  which  they  have 
abandoned. 

And  whereas  it  is  not  reasonable  that  the  religious  mis- 
sionaries, the  Catholics,  and  those  who  have  embraced  the 
Catholic  Religion,  should  be  at  any  loss  by  occasion  of  se- 
veral damages  which  they  have  received  from  those  of  the 
pretended  Reformed  Religion,  we  desire,  command,  and  or- 
dain, that  all  the  necessary  sums  to  indemnify  thera  be  ge- 


442  Appendix. 

nerally  and  without  distinction  levied  upon  the  goods  of 
those  of  the  pretended  Reformed  Religion,  so  as  lliat  it 
shall  be  summarily  enforced  before  the  Chevalier  Monzonx, 
intendant  of  justice  of  the  valleys,  declaring,  nevertheless, 
that  in  case  those  of  the  said  religion  prove  that  the  dama- 
ges have  been  caused  by  some  particular  persons,  they  may 
have  their  recourse  and  warrant  against  them. 

And  to  show  our  said  subjects  how  great  our  clemency  is 
towards  them,  we  grant  leave  to  those  that  shall  think  of  a 
retreat  out  of  our  territories,  to  do  it  within  the  term,  and 
upon  the  conditions,  hereafter  prescribed :  but  because  their 
ill-will  has  showed  itself  but  too  much  by  their  past  conduct, 
and  that  several  could  hide  their  evil  designs  under  a  false 
pretence  of  obedience,  we  reserve  for  ourselves,  besides 
those  who  shall  retreat  out  of  our  territories  upon  their 
own  motion,  to  ordain  it  also  to  such  as  we  shall  think  fit, 
and  as  we  shall  find  it  most  expedient  to  secure  the  peace 
of  tliose  that  shall  stay  behind,  whence  we  do  intend  to  pre- 
scribe the  rules  which  they  shall  observe  for  the  future. 

And  for  an  augmentation  of  our  favours,  we  grant  leave, 
as  well  to  those  that  shall  voluntarily  retreat,  as  to  those  who 
retreat  by  our  orders,  to  take  along  with  them  their  goods 
and  effects  at  their  pleasure,  and  to  sell  those  they  shall  leave 
behind  them,  provided  they  do  it  in  such  a  manner  as  is 
hereafter  prescribed. 

The  same  is  to  be  understood  concerning  strangers,  and 
those  that  are  born  from  strangers,  who  are  to  conform 
themselves  to  all  but  the  last  article  of  our  Order  of  the  31st 
of  January  last,  here  above-mentioned. 

The  said  selling  of  goods  shall  be  made  to  Catholics,  or 
to  persons  tiiat  have  embraced  the  Catholic  Religion;  but 
because  there  may  perhaps  not  be  found  buyers  within  the 
term  here  before  prescribed,  and  that  we  are  not  willing  that 
the  zealots  of  that  religion,  who  shall  retreat  out  of  our  ter- 
ritories, should  be  deprived  of  the  benefits  of  our  present 
concession,  they  may  agree  about,  or  fix  upon,  persons  into 
whose  hands  they  shall  put  their  procurations,  who  shall 


Proofs  and  Illustrations.  443 

have  leave  to  stay  during  three  months  in  Lucerne,  with 
full  liberty  to  treat  and  negotiate  with  whom  they  think  fit 
to  sell  the  goods  of  those  who  sliall  have  retreated,  and  who 
shall  have  leave  to  prescribe  in  their  procurations  the  con- 
ditions of"  their  selling  their  goods  for  their  better  security, 
to  receive  the  price  thereof'  in  what  place  soever  they  desire 
it  should  be  sent  them,  without  fraud  and  deceit  of  the  con- 
stituted procurators,  which  the  Chevalier  and  Iniendant 
Monzonx  shall  take  care  of. 

Those  that  shall  be  wilhng  to  retreat,  shall  be  obliged  to 
meet  at  the  day  and  place  hereafter  specified,  to  be  ready 
to  depart  without  firearms  by  the  way  that  shall  be  named 
them,  either  through  Savoy,  or  the  valley  of  Aste ;  to  this 
purpose,  we  will  provide  them  with  passports,  that  tliey  may 
receive  no  ill  usage  or  hindrance  in  our  territories  ;  but  that 
on  the  contrary,  they  may  find  all  possible  assistance;  and 
because  that  being  in  great  number  they  may  be  exposed 
to  some  inconvcnicncies  upon  the  way,  and  in  the  places 
through  which  they  are  to  go  overcharged,  they  shall  di- 
vide themselves  into  three  bodies  as  is  herein  before-men- 
tioned. The  first  shall  be  composed  of  those  of  the  valleys 
of  Lucerne,  and  shall  meet  at  Tour  this  month  of  April ; 
the  second  composed  of  those  of  the  valleys  of  Angrogne, 
St.  Bardiolomew,  Rocheplatte,  and  Perrustin,  shall  meet  at 
St.  Second,  and  shall  part  the  day  following,  viz.  the  twen- 
ty-second of  this  month;  the  third  and  last  made  up  of 
those  of  the  valleys  of  St.  Martin  and  Perouse,  shall  meet 
at  jViicadole,  and  part  from  thence  the  third  day,  viz.  the 
twenty-third  of  this  month. 

The  term  wherein  our  said  subjects  of  the  pretended  Re- 
formed Religion,  that  inhabit  the  valleys  of  Lucerne,  shall 
be  obliged  to  lay  down  their  arms,  in  the  manner  prescri- 
bed in  the  nrst  article  of  this  present  O'Jer,  is  within  eight 
days  after  the  publication  hereof  in  Lucerne,  during  wliich 
they  ought  to  liave  obeyed  the  contents  of  the  said  Oi  der, 
to  enjoy  the  fruits  of  our  clemency,  by  v/hich  as  well  as  our 
fatherly  afiection  towards  our  said  subjects,  we  leave  to  its 


444  jljjpendix. 

nature  and  course,  notwithstanding  the  enormity  of  their 
crimes.  And  by  means  of  a  punctual  observation  of  all 
herein  contained,  we  grant  our  favour,  pardon,  remission, 
absolution,  and  a  full  amnesty  to  our  said  subjects  of  all 
their  excesses,  misdemeanors,  crimes,  and  other  things  which 
they  may  have  committed  since  the  publication  of  our  Order 
of  the  thirty-first  of  January  last,  as  well  in  general  as  par- 
ticular, so  that  they  may  not  be  called  to  an  account  for  it 
under  any  pretence  whatsoever,  prohibiting  all  judges,  fis- 
cals,  and  others  whom  it  belongs  to,  to  inquire  into  it.  But 
because  in  case  they  should  render  themselves  unworthy  of 
such  favours,  by  not  observing  all  that  is  here  above-men- 
tioned, within  the  prescribed  term,  it  would  be  too  perni- 
cious an  example  to  delay  any  longer  their  deserved  pu- 
nishments, after  having  been  prodigal  to  them  of  our  favours, 
and  after  having  waited  so  long  time  for  their  repentance, 
we  intend  to  make  use  of  those  means  which  God  has  put 
into  our  hands  to  bring  the  obstinate  to  their  duty,  and  to 
make  them  feel  the  punishment  of  their  great  presumption. 

Given  at  Turin,  the  9th  of  April,  1686. 

Enrolled  the  10th. 


No.  10  and  11. 

Letters  from  the  Deputies  of  the  churches  of  Bohy,  St.  John, 
and  Angrogne,  to  the  Swiss  Ambassadors. 

My  Lords, 

We  did  not  fail  immediately  after  the  arrival  of  our 
deputy,  to  make  some  copies  of  the  letter  which  your  Ex- 
cellencies have  been  pleased  to  write  to  our  churches,  and 
they  have  been  read  every  where  after  sermon.  There  can 
nothing  be  said  that  is  either  m.ore  true,  or  more  moving 
and  comforting  J  and  your  Excellencies  may  be  fully  per- 


Proofs  and  Illustrations.  445 

suaded,  that  there  is  no  body  but  that  finds,  and  does  ac- 
knowledge, that  it  is  the  efl'ect  of  your  holy  and  Christian 
chai'ity  towards  our  churches;  yet  notwithstanding  it  has 
been  till  now  absolutely  impossible  to  dispose  our  people  to 
a  retreat  out  of  this  country ;  some  out  of  fear  it  might 
cause  the  loss  of  several  persons  that  shall  venture  to  stay 
behind  ;  others  by  a .  principle  of  conscience  ;  and  others 
from  several    other  considerations,  which  our  deput}'  will 
explain  to  your  Excellencies  by  word  of  mouth.     We  are 
in  the  greatest  consternation  about  it,  and  scarcely  dare  to 
appear  before  your  Excellencies  with  so  much  irresolution. 
Our  people  adiiere  the  more  to  their  opinion,  because  they 
have  been  informed  that  several  otlier  churches,  at  least  a 
great  part  of  those  that  composed  them,  did  not  know  that 
the  business  was  about  such  a  retreat,  when  they  gave  their 
procuration   to   their  deputies,   or   if  they  had  understood 
them,  they  had  changed  their   minds,   which  gives  us  just 
reason  to  fear,  that  in  case  your  Excellencies  should  be  far- 
ther engaged  for   this  people,  you  would  be  extremely  dis- 
pleased with  their  refusal  to  retreat;  and  it  was  by  reason 
of  this  fear  which  we  had  here   the  last   Sunday,  when  we 
desired   your   Excellencies  to  give  us  leave  to  inform  our- 
selves of  the  minds  of  our  people  about  this  proposition, 
foreseeing   at  the  same  time  that  it  would  be  very  hard  to 
persuade  them  to   it:  they  were  for  the  most  part  resolved 
to  be  their  Father's  children,  and  hope  that  the  Lord  will  be 
their  deliverer,  that  he  would  make  use  of  feeble  things  to 
confound  the  strong,  and  that  heaven  would  find  out  some 
hinderance  to  those  designs  which  are  formed  against  us. 
We  do  not  question  but  this  extremely  afflicts  3'our  Excel- 
lencies; and  we  are  touched  with  it  to  our  very  souls;  but 
it  is  not  in  our  power  to  change  their  hearts,  and  to  dispose 
of  other  men's  wills;  nevertheless  we  conjure  your  Excel- 
lencies, in  all  possible  humility,  that  you  would  be  pleased 
not  to  abate  your  kindness  to  these  churches,  neither  to  de- 
prive us  of  your  powerful  and  comfortable  support,  which, 
under  God,  has  made  us   to  subsist  till  now.     For  God's 
Vol.  U.  3  M 


446  Appendix. 

sake  do  always  pity  us  :  what  way  soever  our  ati'airs  shall 
go,  we  lay  our  sou  is  before  God,  to  supplicate  him  with  all 
ardency,  that  he  would  be  pleased  to  direct  all  things  to  the 
glory  of  his  holy  name,  and  the  preservation  of  our  peo- 
ple; and  that  he  would  grant  by  his  Divine  providence,  by 
the  means  of  your  Excellencies,  that  we  may  still  get  the 
prolongation  of  some  days,  that  we  may  once  more  inform 
ourselves  of  the  sentiments  of  our  people  by  the  collecting 
every  man's  voice  in  particular,  if  it  be  possible,  to  know 
their  final  resolutions;  so  that  we  may  not  be  blamed,  nei- 
ther of  one  side  or  another.  The  Lord  be  the  abundant 
rewarder  of  your  Excellencies'  kindness,  and  we  are,  with 
all  manner  of  respect, 

My  Lords, 

Your  Excellencies'  most  humble,  most  obedient^ 
and  most  obliged  Servants, 

The  Deputies  of  Boby,  St.  John,  and  Angrogne. 

John  Aghitto, 
Daniel  Graffe, 

ESTIENNOR    DaNNO, 

Deputies  of  Boby. 

Michael   Parisa, 
John  Muschon, 

Deputies  of  St.  John. 

John  Duffa, 
PiEZZE  Duffa, 
Lewis  Odin, 

Deputies  of  Angrogne. 

Angrogne,  April  9,  1686. 


Proofs  and  Illustrations.  447 

Most  High,  Mighty,  and  Sovereign  Lords, 

We  throw  ourselves  in  all  iiumility  at  your  Excellencies' 
feet,  to  show  you  our  most  sensible  and  inexpressible  con- 
cern, that  a  great  part  of  our  people  are  not  able  to  ap- 
preciate with  Christian  prudence  the  favour  your  Excellen- 
cies endeavour  to  procure  them,  by  a  free  retreat  out  of 
this  country,  with  person  and  goods,  and  to  embrace  it  with 
holy  joy,  as  a  present  from  heaven,  and  a  favour  which 
they  have  sighed  for  at  other  times.  This  makes  our 
hearts  bleed,  and  so  much  the  more,  that  your  Excellencies' 
letter,  which  you  have  been  pleased  to  write  to  them,  ought 
to  have  immediately  disposed  them  to  an  affair  of  this  na- 
ture; yet  we  dare  still  most  humbly  beseech  your  Excel- 
lencies to  have  the  goodness  to  exercise  love  on  all  these 
considerations,  as  knowing  very  well  that  we  have  to  do 
with  persons  whom  it  is  very  hard  to  compass,  and  to  make 
them  all  sensible  of  the  reason,  and  the  state  of  things,  but 
by  experience,  and  principally  when  it  is  about  abandoning 
their  old  and  dear  native  soil:  there  are,  nevertheless,  a 
great  many,  and  the  principal  of  them,  who  resign  them- 
selves entirely  to  your  Excellencies'  counsel,'  charity,  and 
prudence,  and  that  will  never  oppose  what  you  shrdl  fmd 
most  expedient  for  the  glory  of  God,  and  their  welfare  and 
preservation.  The  ministers  also  are  all  of  the  same 
opinion,  and  we  are  all  willing  punctually  to  observe  the 
counsel  your  Excellencies  shall  be  pleased  to  give  us. 
And  we  most  humbly  beseech  you  to  pity  us  and  our  fa- 
milies, to  extricate  us  out  of  an  unhappy  state  which  to  all 
appearance  is  unavoidable;  this  is  the  favour  we  hope  from 
your  Excellencies,  and  pray  the  Lord  to  bless  your  Lord- 
ships with  all  manner  of  prosperity;  and  we  are  with  all 
possible  respect  and  submission,  most  high,  mighty,  and 
sovereign  Lords, 

Your  Excellencies'  most  humble,  and 
most  obedient  Servants, 

SiDRAC  Bastie, 
Angrogne,  April  9,  1686.  Guillaumk  Mallanot. 


448  Appendix. 

I.  We  have  been  informed  for  certain,  by  a  credible  per- 
son, that  his  Royal  Highness  will  not  gj-ant  us  a  retreat 
with  our  goods,  but  that  he  pretends  to  detain  them  for  the 
charges  he  has  been  at  already. 

II.  Tliat  he  absolutely  insists  that  the  ministers  and  fo- 
reigners should  be  delivered  into  his  hands. 

III.  That  we  should  lay  down  our  arms,  and  that  we 
should  deliver  them  up  to  the  governor. 

IV.  That  the  troops  are  to  enter  into  the  valleys  to  de- 
molish the  churches,  and  to  obstruct  all  divine  exercises. 

V.  In  fine,  we  have  been  informed,  that  the  council 
would  by  no  means  suffer  that  the  French  troops  should 
march  against  us. 


No.  12. 

Memorial  of  the  Swiss  Ambassadors  to  the  Duke  of  Savoy. 

Your  Royal  Highness  is  humbly  requested  to  consider, 
that  he  that  will  retreat  out  of  the  valleys  by  virtue  of 
your  published  Order,  is  obliged  to  prepare  himself  for  his 
departure,  for  the  transportation  of  his  wife,  his  children, 
and  his  goods  that  will  be  necessary  to  him;  that  he  will 
be  obliged  to  dispose  in  several  places  what  he  cannot 
carry  along  with  him;  that  he  must  provide  for  the  sale  of 
his  corn,  of  his  provisions,  of  his  wine,  of  his  cattle,  which 
he  would  not  be  forced  to  leave  at  random,  and  that  he 
cannot  intrust  with  his  procurator  at  Lucerne,  and  who 
consequently  by  reason  of  the  distance  of  the  place,  will  be 
incapable  to  take  care  of  it;  that  within  the  term  of  eight 
days  he  will  not  be  able  to  settle  accounts  either  with  his 
■creditors  or  his  debtors,  because  those  he  has  to  do  with  do 
not  live  in  the  valleys,  or  because  there  may  be  some  ac- 
counts that  cannot  be  regulated  but  by  arbitration;  that  in 
consideration  of  goods  immoveable,  there  is  to  be  made  an 
exact  description  of  the  vineyards,   meadows,  fields,  and 


Proofs  and  Illustrations.  449 

woods,  whose  boundaries  and  limits   are  to  be  marked  out 
and  described,  as  also  of  the  rights  thereunto  belonging-, 
and  the  sums  for  which  they  are  mortgaged,  and  that  there 
ought  to  be  granted  some  particular  procurations  to  that 
purpose.     I'hercfore  your  Royal    Highness   having   been 
pleased   by  an  instinct  of  your  justice  and   clemency,  to 
giant    to    your    subjects   of   the  valleys   leave  to  retreat 
wherever  they  please,    and    to   sell  their  goods  which  they 
shall  leave  behind  ihem,   you  would  not  wish  that   this  fa- 
vour should  be   unproiitable  to  them,   by  obstructing  the 
favour  of  this  concession  by  the  shortness  of  time,  to  take 
away  from  them  with  one  hand  what  you  had  given  them 
with  the  other.     Your  royal  highness  is  also   requested  to 
consider  that  six  trustees  are  not   enough    for  the   sale  of 
goods  belonging  to  several  hundreds  of  families  that  shall 
be  willing  to  retreat;  that  this  commission  cannot  be  given 
but  to  people  of  the  country,   and  consequently  to  persons 
without  learning  and  without  capacity,  and  taken  up  with 
their  own  affairs;  that  besides,  these  trustees  will  be  obliged 
to  run  to  several  places  to  find  out  buyers,  to  let  them  have 
a  view  of  the  property  which  they  are  to  buy,  that   settle- 
ments must  be  made  in  several  places  before  several  notaries, 
that  they  are  to  watch  at  the  selling  of  a  great  number  of 
moveables  that  are   dispersed  in   several   houses,  to  count 
money,  to  change  it,  and  to   send  it  to  them  into  foi-eign 
countries,  to  find  out  some  conveniencies  for  that  purpose, 
to  write  to  their  correspondents  lor  the  clearing  of  several 
doubts  that  may  be  raised,  to  remove  the  obstructions  they 
shall  meet  with,  to  defend  themselves  against  some  unjust 
demands,  to  receive  letters  from   those   they  shall  write  to 
from  the  places  of  their  retreat,  to  acquaint  them  with  the 
state  of  their  affairs,  and  in  a  word,  to  be  charged  with  a 
thousand  other  occupations  that  we  cannot  now   foresee: 
Therefore,   because  your  Royal  Highness  does  not  intend 
to  enrich  yourself  with  the  goods  of  your  poor  subjects, 
nor  to  augment  your  revenues  by  their  losses,  you  will  be 
pleased  to  grant  thein  leave  to  nominate  twelve  persons  that 


450  Appendix. 

within  the  time  prescribed  by  your  Royal  Highness,  shall 
proceed  to  the  sale  of  the  goods  of  those  that  shall  have 
retreated.  But  because  it  will  undoubtedly  happen,  that 
within  the  term  of  three  months,  with  what  diligence  soever, 
the  trustees  may  proceed  to  the  sale  of  the  goods  of  the 
poor  refugees,  there  will  be  found  few  chapmen,  and  that 
every  body  will  expect  the  end  of  the  term  to  take  ad- 
vantage of  the  necessity  to  which  the  trustees  will  be  driven 
to  dispose  of  their  goods,  and  to  have  them  from  those 
wretched  people  at  an  under  price,  by  reason  of  their  fear 
to  lose  all,  we  hope  your  Royal  Highness  will  have  the 
goodness  to  prevent  this  inconvenience,  and  according  to 
the  agreements  made  in  the  year  1663,  with  his  late  Royal 
Highness  of  glorious  memory,  you  will  buy  at  a  reasonable 
price  the  moveable  and  immoveable  goods,  that  within  the 
space  of  three  months  shall  not  be  sold. 

And  forasmuch  as  your  Royal  Highness  distinguishes 
yourself  by  your  goodness  and  clemency,  you  are  not 
willing,  without  doubt,  to  oblige  any  body  to  impossibili- 
ties, and  therefore  must  be  aware  that  females  newly  brought 
to  bed,  or  such  as  are  in  the  last  month  of  their  time,  and 
old  and  sick  men,  are  incapable  of  travelling,  you  will 
make  no  difficulty  to  dispense  in  their  favour  with  the  law 
you  have  prescribed  to  others  about  their  retreat,  and  ex- 
empt them  from  quartering  soldiers,  who,  how  well  soever 
disciplined,  always  cause  some  disorder,  and  carry  distress 
into  all  places  where  they  enter,  as  also  to  grant  them  leave 
to  live  and  die  in  their  houses  without  fear  of  being  ill  used, 
and  of  being  spoiled  of  their  goods  and  provisions. 

In  fine,  we  beseech  your  Royal  Highness  that  you  would 
be  pleased  instantly  to  use  your  clemency  towards  those  of 
the  valleys  that  are  detained  in  your  prisons,  and  towards 
those  that  have  been  taken  up  on  that  account,  and  that 
you  will  be  pleased  mercifully  to  set  them  at  liberty. 


Proofs  and  Illustrations.  451 

No.  13. 
From  the  Suriss  Ambassadors,  to  the  Churches  of  the  Valleys. 

Gentlemen, 

At  the  secret  audience  which  we  had  of  his  Royal  High- 
ness, your  prince,  we  have  earnestly  desired  him,  that  he 
would  be  pleased  to  grant  you  a  retreat  out  of  his  terri- 
tories upon  more  gracious  conditions  than  those  that  are 
expressed  by  the  last  Edict;  and  we  have  represented  to 
him,  as  well  by  word  of  mouth,  as  by  our  memorial,  all  the 
reasons  that  might  be  capable  of  moving  and  to  prevail 
with  him  to  mitigate  the  Orders  he  has  already  published 
against  you.  We  solicited  him  to  grant  you  a  longer  term 
to  dispose  yourselves  for  so  troublesome  a  retreat,  and  to 
sell  your  goods,  and  that  he  would  be  pleased  to  augment 
the  number  of  the  trustees  charged  to  sell  them ;  to  give 
leave  that  the  aged,  sick,  and  infirm  persons,  and  women 
newly  brought  to  bed,  or  that  were  big  with  child,  might 
stay  behind  in  the  country  without  being  exposed  to  any 
ill  usage,  and  without  being  obUged  to  quarter  soldiers; 
and  in  fine,  to  give  orders  that  his  procurators  might  sell 
the  goods  that  should  not  be  vended  within  the  time  pre- 
scribed by  his  Edict.  But  we  have  not  been  able  to  ob- 
tain the  least  thing  from  his  Royal  Highness,  because  he 
has  been  informed  that  you  are  up  in  arms  to  obstruct  the 
execution  of  his  orders.  We  have  also  endeavoured  to 
persuade  the  Marquis  of  St.  Thomas  that  he  would  be 
pleased  to  employ  his  credit  with  his  Royal  Highness, 
to  dispose  him  to  grant  us  what  we  desired  in  your 
favour:  but  he  has  given  us  to  understand,  that  as  long 
as  you  shall  keep  in  arms,  there  are  no  hopes  for  you. 
His  Royal  Highness  departs  this  day  for  Precairas,  and 
we  have  had  our  audience  of  Conge,  with  a  design  to  re- 
turn immediately  into  our  country,  except  God's  providence 
give  us  some  more  favourable  occasion  to  serve  you;  and 


452  Appendix. 

since  without  taking  notice  of  some  wise  men's  counsels, 
you  resign  the  event  of  your  affairs  to  God's  providence, 
we  beseech  him  that  he  would  be  pleased  to  assist  you  in 
your  calamity,  and  direct  all  to  his  glory,  and  your  tem- 
poral and  spiritual  welfare.  Resting,  after  we  have  re- 
commended you  to  God  Almighty's  favour,  &tc. 

Turirif  ^c. 


No.  14. 


Letter  from  several  of  the  Pastors  of  Churches  in  Piedmont, 
addressed  to  the   Cantons  of  Switzerland. 

Most  High,  Mighty,  and  Sovereign  Lords, 

Our  churches  have  for  a  long  time  expei'ienced,  and 
principally  in  these  unhappy  troubles  that  have  happened 
to  them,  the  incomparable  charity  and  fatherly  affection  of 
your  Excellencies  towards  them,  and  still  very  lately,  by 
sending  our  Lords  the  Ambassadors  to  His  Royal  High- 
ness, upon  occasion  of  the  Order  of  the  31st  of  January 
last,  published  against  us,  as  we  have  been  informed  of, 
by  the  letter  which  you  have  been  pleased  to  direct  to  us. 
We  are  not  able  enough  to  acknowledge  the  care,  trouble, 
and  pains  which  our  Lords  the  Ambassadors  have  taken  in 
our  favour  and  preservation,  towards  our  Sovereign,  and 
had  they  met  with  hearts  disposed  to  our  welfare  and  quiet- 
ness, their  intercessions  would  not  have  failed  of  being  suc- 
cessful ;  but  it  ought  to  be  confessed,  that  our  condition  is 
very  bad  from  that  quarter  ;  we,  nevertheless,  render  to 
your  Excellencies,  with  all  the  sentiments  of  acknowledg- 
ments we  are  capable  of,  our  most  humble  and  hearty 
thanks  for  so  many  favours  we  have  received  from  their 
holy  and  Christian  charity.  We  are  very  sensible,  and 
confess  it,  though  with  great  confusion,  that  our  Lords  the 
Ambassadors  have  not  had  from  our  people  all  that  satis- 


Proofs  and  Illustrations.  458 

faction  that  miglit  have  been  wished  for,  concerning  their 
resignation  into  your  hands  :  but  we  most  humbly  beseech 
yoti  to  e!)!j.!oy  your  charity  and  support  towards  a  people 
that  maKe  to  themselves  a  point  of  conscience  and  honour 
to  preserve  their  religion  in  their  native  country,  where  it 
has  been  a  long  time  miraculously  preserved.  We  are 
very  sensible  that  as  to  the  world,  our  ruin  is  unavoidable, 
but  we  are  in  hopes  that  God  will  revenge  his  quarrel,  and 
that  good  and  charitable  people  will  not  abandon  us ;  and 
principally  we  put  our  trust  under  God,  in  your  Excellen- 
cies, and  throw  ourselves  into  your  fatherly  arms,  beseech- 
ing you  for  the  compassion  of  God,  and  in  the  name  of 
his  Son  Jesus  Christ,  our  common  Father  and  Saviour, 
not  to  deprive  us  of  your  charity  and  affection,  and  to 
throw  the  eyes  of  your  clemency  and  tenderness  upon  so 
many  poor  families,  little  children,  and  other  weak  misera- 
ble persons,  as  to  the  world,  to  let  them  feel  the  favourable 
effects  of  your  Christian  goodness.  We  beseech  the  Lord  that 
he  would  be  pleased  to  be  the  perpetual  preserver  of  your 
Excellencies,  and  the  abundant  rewarder  of  all  your  holy 
and  Christian  charities;  and  are  with  all  the  veneration 
imaginable. 

Mo:t  High,  Mighty,  and  Sovereign  Lords, 
your  Excellencies'  most  humble,  most 
obedient,  and  most  obliged  Servants, 

The  Ministers,  Elders,  and  other  directors  of  the 
Churches  of  the  Valleys  in  Piedmont,  and  for  all, 

S.  Bastie,  Moderator. 
Gr.  Matant,  Minister. 


Vol.  ir.  3  N 


454  Appendix, 


No.   15. 

Letters  from  the  Pastors  of  the  Churches  in  the  Valleys  of 
Piedmont  to  the  Swiss  Ambassadors. 

My  Lords, 

We  do  intend  to  communicate  immediately  to  our  com- 
monalties your  Excellencies'  letters  :  we  could  have  wished 
that  they  had  been  more  mindful  of  those  wise  counsels 
your  Excellencies  have  given  them  to  prevent  such  danger 
and  desolation  as  in  all  human  probability  is  now  unavoid- 
able :  we  pray  to  God  that  he  would  be  pleased  to  crown 
their  resolution,  though  against  all  appearance,  with  suc- 
cess, and  to  strengthen  their  infirmity  and  feebleness.  I 
do  believe  that  all  the  ministers  do  design  to  live  and  to  die 
amongst  them,  because  your  Excellencies  do  not  disapprove 
it :  and,  indeed,  it  would  neither  be  honest  nor  excusable 
to  abandon  them  in  such  a  juncture  of  time ;  and  we  should 
certainly  have  reason  to  think,  ourselves  guilty  in  part  of 
their  loss,  because  a  good  shepherd  is  bound  to  lay  down 
his  life  for  his  flock.  We  continue  to  give  your  Excellen- 
cies our  most  humble  thanks  for  the  trouble  and  indefati- 
gable care  you  have  taken  for  our  welfare  and  subsistence  ; 
and  we  conjure  you  by  the  compassion  of  God,  and  by  the 
charity  of  Jesus  Christ,  not  to  forget  us,  but  whether  it  be 
during  your  stay  at  Turin,  or  after  your  return  to  the  most 
high  and  mighty  Protestant  Cantons,  to  favour  us  with 
your  affection  and  Christian  charity  upon  all  occasions. 
We  pray  our  great  God  and  Saviour  that  he  would  be 
pleased  to  reward  the  pains  and  charities  of  your  Ex- 
cellencies towards  these  churches,  with  his  most  precious 
blessings  in  heaven  and  earth,  and  to  cover  your  sacred 
persons  with  his  inviolable  protection :  these  are  the  sin- 


Proofs  and  Illustrations.  455 

Cere   and  fervent  wishes  of  those  that  are,  with  profound 
respect, 

My  Lords,  your  Excellencies'  most  humble  and 

obedient  servants, 

The  Ministers  of  the  Evangelical  Churches  of  the 
T^alleys  of  Lucerne,  Angrogne,  Perouse,  St.  Mar^ 
tin,  ^c.  in  Piedmont,  and  in  the  name  of  all. 

S.  Bastie,  Minister 
Angrogne,  April  17,  1686. 


No.  16. 

Letter  from  his  Royal  Highness  the  Duke  of  Savoy,  to  the 
French  King's  Brother,  the  Duke  of  Orleans. 

Amongst  the  many  and  great  troubles,  under  which  I  am 
at  present,  seeing  none  but  you  capable  of  giving  some 
ease  to  my  afflicted  spirits,  I  hope  you  will  give  me  leave 
to  do  what  unfortunate  men  have  only  left  to  do  ;  that  is 
to  say,  to  justify  their  conduct,  and  to  demonstrate  their 
reasons  to  those  that  are  not  yet  so  far  from  all  equity,  as 
to  refuse  to  pity  them.  What  have  I  ever  done  else  to  the 
king,  than  to  serve  him  in  the  most  substantial  things  he 
desired  of  me  ?  Have  I  not  sacrificed  to  his  satisfaction 
the  valleys  of  Lucerne,  to  my  own  prejudice,  and  against 
all  the  principles  of  true  politics  ?*  Did  I  not  consent  to 
give  him  three  of  my  regiments,  at  the  same  instant  his  am- 
bassador made  the  first  mention  of  it  .'*  Is  it  not  evident^ 
that  to  please  the  king,  I  have  abandoned  my  interest,  my 
country,  and  my  person,  by  such  compliances,  as  have  drawn 
upon  me  great  aversion  from  all  the  Protestant  powers,  of 

*  Here  is  a  frank  avowal  that  the  duke  had  consented  to  the  d«» 
3tructioa  of  the  Waldenses  to  oblige  the  King  of  France.    Eb. 


45t)  Appendix. 

the  Emperor,  of  the  King  of  Spain,  and  of  all  the  Con- 
federate Princes  f  Wherein  have  I  ever  displeased  the 
King  ? 

His  ambassadors  have  sometimes  made  their  complaints 
abont  some  little  insignificant  things,  a  thousand  of  which 
would  not  be  able  to  balance  the  least  part  of  those  sub- 
stantial services  which  I  have  mentioned,  nor  the  continued 
marks  I  have  given  of  a  strict  adherence  to  the  king's  in- 
terests. A  gentleman  of  Nice  raises,  without  my  leave, 
and  without  my  desiring  it,  some  soldiers,  in  the  said  place, 
against  several  declarations  of  m3'  predecessors,  at  the  sam». 
time  that  I  am  there  actually  present;  this  is  not  enough, 
he  enlists  some  of  those  that  belong  to  my  regiment  of 
guards:  I  have  the  goodness  not  to  sufl'er  him  to  be  tried 
at  the  sessions,  nor  his  goods  to  be  seized  according  to 
custom:  and  I  content  myself  to  send  him  to  prison,  only 
to  prevent  tlie  ill  example  he  had  given  by  his  behaviour: 
and  yet,  after  all,  they  pretend  to  make  a  great  business  of 
this,  as  if  I  was  obliged  tamely  to  suffer  this  insolence  and 
affront  of  one  of  my  own  subjects,  in  my  very  presence, 
instead  of  which  i\\ey  should  have  taken  notice  of  my 
moderation. 

I  have  given  the  king  tiiree  regiments,  partly  composed 
out  of  the  principal  nobility  of  this  country;  there  is  a 
considerable  number  of  gentlemen  and  others  of  my  sub- 
jects in  those  troops;  I  am  willing,  for  my  greater  recom- 
mendation, to  give  the  king,  with  my  own  hands,  such  as 
he  may  desire  to  have  above  the  said  number:  but  I  do 
not  intend  to  give  my  subjects  full  license  to  act  against 
the  law,  and  to  deviate  from  that  loyalty  they  naturally 
owe  to  their  sovereign.  Neverdieless,  those  that  do  it,  are 
not  punished  for  it,  their  goods  are  not  seized,  and  I  do 
expressly  prohibit  to  indict  them  for  some  impertinent 
and  seditious  words ;  neither  do  1  trouble  their  parents  for 
it;  yet,  after  all,  if  1  do  not  applaud  their  exorbitance,  my 
past  services  are  forgotten,  and  1  have  no  good  intentions 
for  those  of  his  Majesty! 


Proofs  and  lllmtrations.  A^l 

There  is  a  reciprocal  agreement  made  about  the  restoring 
«f  the  deserters  of  tlie  garrison  of  Pignerol,  Perouse,  and 
Cassal,  and  of  those  of  my  troops.  This  is  not  at  all  exe- 
cuted on  the  side  of  the  said  garrisons :  for  if  they  restore 
one,  they  retain  fifty :  and  yet  they  make  a  great  noise,  as 
if  the  agreement  was  not  observed  on  my  side.  Of  those 
troops  which  for  the  King's  service  I  entertained  in  the 
valleys  of  Lucerne,  a  great  many  deserted  to  Pignerol; 
but  the  governor  pretended,  either,  that  he  had  no  autho- 
rity over  those  deserters,  because  they  had  listed  themselves 
amongst  some  recruits  which  were  made  for  other  regi- 
ments; or,  that  they  were  to  be  exchanged  with  those 
troops  of  his  Majesty  that  were  out  of  the  place;  or  they 
refused  them  sometimes  downright,  pretending  that  there 
was  an  amnesty  of  the  King  in  favour  of  the  deserters;  as 
if  an  amnesty  of  the  King,  that  only  regards  those  that 
desert  in  his  own  kingdom,  could  be  made  use  of  by  those 
that  deserted  out  of  my  troops,  far  from  coming  back,  as 
it  is  expressly  required  in  amnesties  of  such  nature.  It  has 
been  declared  at  Cassal,  that  they  would  neither  render 
nor  retake  any  deserter.  This  is  a  thing  that  I  do  not  com- 
plain of,  for  there  seems  to  be  a  reciprocal  equity  in  not 
asking,  and  in  not  giving  back :  but  then  the  garrison  of 
Cassal  has  no  reason  to  complain  neither. 

Give  me  leave  about  this  subject  to  inform  you  of  a  thing 
that  has  made  so  great  a  noise.  Some  officers  of  Pignerol 
having  made  their  complaints,  that  some  of  their  deserters 
were  to  be  found  in  the  valleys  of  Lucerne,  I  gave  orders 
that  they  should  be  restored ;  and,  withal,  leave  that  they 
might  go  themselves  to  discover  them.  They  took  along 
with  them  a  serjeant  that  had  deserted  out  of  a  regiment  be- 
longing to  the  said  valleys  :  the  officers  of  the  said  regiment 
seized  him  as  soon  as  they  saw  him  :  I  was  told  of  it  in  a  let- 
ter: I  gave  them,  according  to  my  custom  in  such  matters,  a 
general  answer,  that  is  to  say,  to  do  what  they  found  just, 
having  no  mind  to  condemn  the  deserters  myself  The 
Serjeant  did  himself  confess  \\v.\\  \\o  had  deserted;  Jie  was 


458  Appendix. 

tried  and  condemned  according  to  law.  Ought  a  deserter 
not  to  have  been  seized,  that  had  the  impudence  to  come 
before  his  officers,  to  encourage  (by  his  so  fine  example) 
the  rest  of  the  regiment  to  desert  as  well  as  he  ?  Does  the 
agreement  made  to  restore  the  deserters  mention,  not  to 
take  them  ourselves  when  they  are  to  be  found  in  our  own 
territories,  from  whence  they  deserted,  only  because  some 
officers  had  the  impudence  to  take  them  along  with  them? 
Ought  we  to  think  that  it  is  the  King's  pleasure  that  we 
leave  off  being  sovereigns  in  foreign  countries,  when  a  cri- 
minal is  at  the  suit  of  a  French  officer,  and  that  there  be 
no  justice  for  them  there?  Ought  we  to  think  that  he 
would  have  us  take  there  more  care,  than  in  his  own  king- 
dom? And  yet  this  is  the  very  thing  that  has  been  so 
much  exaggerated,  to  prove  that  I  have  no  good  inten- 
tions for  the  King's  service. 

They  have  continued  secretly  to  raise  soldiers  in  my 
territories  for  the  King's  service:  they  are  exhausted  of 
men;  I  cannot  find  enough  to  complete  my  own  regiments. 
I  endeavour  to  retain  my  own  subjects  by  some  slight  de- 
monstrations, without  troubling  those  any  more  that  do 
not  observe  it,  setting  at  liberty  those  that  have  been  im- 
prisoned, as  soon  as  they  have  it.  Such  great  moderation 
is  not  at  all  taken  notice  of;  as  if  a  sovereign  ought  to 
contribute  himself  to  the  exhausting  his  country  of  men, 
and  that  he  ought  to  leave  off  making  use  of  his  own  sub- 
jects, only  to  be  employed  in  the  King's  service,  without 
seeming  to  take  notice  of  it,  without  being  asked  or  thanked 
for  it. 

Some  years  ago,  the  King  desiring  to  make  some  re- 
cruits in  Savoy,  for  his  regiments  of  Rou§illon  and  St. 
Laurent,  did  consent  that  I  might  make  some  recruits  for 
my  service  in  the  provinces  of  Dauphiny,  Lionnois,  and 
Provence :  and  though  those  recruits  are  very  expensive, 
and  come  to  nothing  at  all,  by  reason  of  the  great  number 
of  those  that  desert  either  on  the  way,  or  as  soon  as  they 
have  arrived  in  tliis  country;  yet  I  never  failed  to  give 


Proofs  and  Illustrations.  450 

orders  in  Savoy,  as  often  as  the  officers  of  the  said  regi- 
ment arrived  there  with  a  letter  of  Mons.  de  Louvois,  to 
let  them  make  their  recruits.  It  has  been  represented  some 
few  months  ago,  to  two  or  three  officers  that  were  come 
for  the  same  purpose,  that  Savoy  was  exhausted  of  men; 
that  it  had  very  much  suffered  the  last  year,  endeavouring 
to  hinder  the  incursions  of  those  of  Lucerne,  and  some 
French  Protestants;  and  that  to  continue  to  contribute  to 
the  King's  satisfaction,  there  would,  according  to  all  ap- 
pearance, be  no  less  difficulty  this  year  to  furnish  men 
enough  to  the  same  end;  desiring  the  said  officers  to  put 
off  their  recruits  till  some  more  convenient  time.  The 
Count  de  Rebenac  having  spoken  something  of  it  here,  the 
same  reasons  were  made  known  to  him;  withal  telling  him, 
that  it  was  no  refusal,  but  only  a  putting  it  off  for  a  better 
time,  to  make  the  said  recruits  with  so  much  the  more  con- 
veniency:  and  though  he  seemed  to  be  satisfied  with  these 
just  reasons,  yet  endeavours  have  been  made  to  draw  an  ill 
consequence  out  of  it,  to  the  prejudice  of  my  good  inten- 
tions for  the  King's  service;  as  if  the  various  troubles  of 
this  poor  country,  which  it  has  been  forced  to  undergo, 
were  not  evident  to  all  the  world,  and  which  is  only  with 
a  design  to  contribute  to  his  Majesty's  satisfaction. 

I  run  over  and  examine  all  ray  actions,  and  I  find  no- 
thing else  that  in  the  least  can  be  taken  hold  of  by  those 
that  please  themselves  with  censuring  my  actions  before  the 
King,  except  my  journey  to  Venice,  which  the  Marquis  of 
Arcy  has  so  often  talked  of  before  and  after  it.  I  confess, 
that  I  was  very  glad  to  have  an  opportunity  to  know  the 
Duke  of  Bavaria,  and  to  see  at  the  same  time  the  so  much 
renowned  city  of  Venice.  1  protest,  that  I  did  not  think 
nor  resolve  on  it,  till  at  a  time  when  I  could  not  make  it 
known  to  the  King,  and  receive  his  advice,  without  losing 
the  opportunity  of  executing  my  design.  I  beseech  you 
seriously  to  consider  of  what  ill  consequence  it  could  be, 
and  what  reason  the  King  has  to  complain  of  it,  since  I  did 
not  do  it,  when  my  father  of  blessed  memory  went  to 


460  A£})endix. 

Padua  I'or  the  same  reason,  antl  that  I  did  not  know  the 
King  meddled  with  the  travels  that  other  princes  undertake. 
Sure  it  is,  that  w  hat  has  followed,  has  made  it  evident  that 
there  was  nothing  in  this  journey  but  what  is  good  and 
honest,  and  what  nobody  can  disapprove  of. 

Give  me  leave  also  to  answer  some  other  complaints 
which  the  ambassador  of  his  Majesty,  and  Monsieur  Ca- 
tinat,  have  mingled  in  their  discourse,  and  which  partly  you 
yourself  have  made  to  the  Marquis  of  Doghani,  my  ambas- 
sador, namely,  that  I  was  treating  with  his  Imperial  Majes- 
ty, with  the  King  of  Spain,  with  England  and  Holland. 
To  convince  his  Majesty  that  this  was  a  false  supposition,  I 
liave  written  you  several  times  that  it  was  not  true :  if  you 
do  but  know  me  well,  you  will  easily  be  convinced  that  this 
is  more  than  a  suHicient  proof;  for  I  had  rather  lose  all, 
than  tell  you  a  lie.  In  the  mean-time  I  informed  the  Pope, 
by  my  resident;  1  have  written  to  him,  and  to  his  nuncio  that 
had  showed  the  letter  to  Mons.  Catinat,  that  it  was  not  true, 
and  that  nothing  had  passed,  neither  was  there  any  thing 
on  foot,  against  his  IMajesty's  interest:  diat,  on  the  contrary, 
I  had  done  several  things  against  common  civility,  and  di- 
rectly against  my  own  interest,  out  of  fear  of  displeasing 
him ;  having  had  no  ministers  at  the  Emperor's,  and  the 
Cad'iOlic  King's  court,  to  behave  myself  in  this  point  ac- 
cording to  the  Marquis  of  Arcy's  direction,  who  could  not  al- 
low so  much  as  some  gentlemen,  my  subjects,  going  into 
Hungary  to  improve  themselves  in  the  art  of  war.  As  for 
England,  the  same  reason  has  hindered  me  that  I  have  sent 
no  answer  to  an  obliging  letter  from  thence:  and  concern- 
ing the  States-General,  the}'  have  written  to  me  a  letter,  not 
long  ago,  in  favour  of  the  Waldenses ;  I  desired  to  be  ex- 
cused from  doing  what  they  requested,  and  this  is  the  only 
correspondence  I  have  had  with  them. 

There  has  been  something  mentioned  of  intelligence  I 
kept  with  certain  men  in  Dauphiny ;  this  is  an  invention  of 
the  same  stamp  with  the  rest,  but  with  this  difference,  that  I 
have  reason  to  hope  that  by  the  falsity  of  this  lie  it  will  be 


Proofs  and  Illustrations.  461 

judged  that  the  rest  is  of  no  better  foundation.  In  fine,  I 
am  willing  to  submit  myself  to  the  judgment  of  his  holiness, 
or  the  commonwealth  of  Venice,  or  any  other  power  that  I 
have  not  just  reason  to  suspect ;  but  the  king  himself,  by 
making  some  just  reflections,  according  to  his  great  under- 
standing, may  easily  see  the  falsity  of  all  these  accusations. 
And  to  be  plain  with  you ;  after  the  hard  usage  I  just  now 
receive,  it  ought  to  be  less  strange,  that  those  who  have  sur- 
prised his  Majesty's  equity,  so  as  to  persuade  him  to  such 
extremes  with  me,  have  endeavoured  to  give  some  few^ 
though  false,  colours  to  their  pretences. 

I  beseech  you.  Sir,  to  make  a  parallel  of  what  substantial 
things  I  have  actually  done  for  the  King's  service,  with  the 
aforesaid  pretences,  and  to  judge  if  those  solid  marks  I  have 
given  of  my  zeal  for  the  King's  interest,  do  not  altogether 
destroy  them;  and  if  it  be  not  against  common  sense,  to 
put  them  into  a  parallel?  Cast  your  eyes  upon  what  fol- 
lows. Monsieur  de  Rebenac,  the  king's  ambassador,  ar- 
rives in  this  country ;  he  takes  pains  to  assure  me  of  the 
King's  goodness  in  regard  to  my  person.  I  answer  it  with 
those  earnest  protestations  so  often  repeated  by  me  and  my 
ministers,  of  my  great  acknowledgment  and  zeal  for  the 
King's  service,  that  ought  fully  to  persuade  him  of  it.  He 
desires  me  to  drive  the  rest  of  my  subjects  out  of  the  val- 
leys ;  1  do  consent  to  it ;  he  does  nothing  but  entertain  me 
about  that  business,  and  the  King's  favourable  opinion  he 
has  of  me.  Monsieur  Catinat  arrives  at  Pignerol,  he  comes 
to  see  me  in  this  city;  the  project  against  the  Vaudois  seems 
to  be  his  only  design;  he  speaks  to  me  about  it  as  the  only 
cause  of  his  coming.  I  do  easily  believe  it,  I  let  him  see 
a  list  of  ail  my  troops,  ai<d  that  tiiey  are  not  enough  to  fur- 
nish garrisons  for  my  fortresses,  and  to  send  them  to  such 
places  where  my  service  requires  their  presence ;  and  ne- 
vertheless I  resoU^e  to  furnish  him  with  a  considerable  de- 
tachment. He  seems  to  be  satisfied ;  he  desires  to  have  at 
Pignerol  a  conference  with  my  officers  ;  I  send  them  to  him. 
All  his  thoughts  seem  to  be  employed  about  this  design  ;  he 

Vol.  II.  3  O 


462  Appendix. 

makes  all  seeming  preparations  for  it:  he  says  that  his  com- 
mission regards  more  those  parts  that  are  of  this,  than  the 
other,  side  of  Pignerol;  that  it  was  necessary  to  use  all 
haste  to  make  an  end  of  the  business  witli  the  Vaudois,  and 
he  seems  to  concern  himself  with  nothing  else.  In  the 
mean-time  there  happened  an  insurrection  in  Mondovi ;  to 
appease  that,  I  sent  thither  some  of  my  troops,  and  some 
few  of  those  that  are  at  Lucerne.  Monsieur  Catinat  lets 
me  know,  that  seeing  I  was  engaged  about  the  business  of 
Mondovi,  if  I  could  not  assist  him  with  the  same  number 
of  troops  I  had  promised,  I  should  let  him  have  at  least  a 
part  of  it.  I  gave  orders  to  send  him  a  detachment  of  400 
men;  he  seems  to  be  satisfied.  It  snows  very  much  in  the 
valleys,  so  there  is  no  action  there.  Some  ^qw  days  after, 
having  made  an  end  of  the  business  of  Mondovi,  and  coming 
back  to  Turin,  I  understand  that  the  King's  troops,  which 
we  thought  were  designed  for  Burgundy,  Catalogue,  and 
against  the  Protestants  in  the  valleys,  did  advance  towards 
the  borders  of  my  territories.  This  report  is  confirmed  by 
the  discourse  of  his  Majesty's  principal  ofiicers,  who  make 
it  public,  that  they  intended  to  put  the  dutchy  of  my  land 
under  contribution,  and  accordingly  they  dispersed  there 
some  papers  that  intimated  the  same.  Nobody  speaks  to 
me  about  the  passage ;  I  judge  that  the  King  has  a  mind 
either  to  take  it  by  force,  or  that  he  desires  I  should  offer  it. 
I  do  it  with  all  the  security  of  going  and  coming  back,  and 
all  the  conveniency  of  provisions  in  my  territories,  with  all 
possible  protestations  of  my  zeal  to  serve  him.  But  this 
signifies  nothing :  Monsieur  Catinat  desires  some  commis- 
saries to  explain  himself  about  the  King's  intentions.  I 
send  him  two  persons  to  Pignerol.  He  tells  them  in  gene- 
ral terms,  that  the  King  is  not  satisfied  with  my  behaviour  ; 
that  he  had  received  orders  to  enter  his  troops  into  my  terri- 
tories, that  he  would  give  them  bread,  but  that  I  was  to  fur- 
nish them  with  forage,  and  with  a  pound  of  flesh  each 
soldier ;  and  gives  a  hint  that  he  would  write  to  me  some- 
thing more  particular.     Those  villages  through  which  he 


Proofs  and  Illustrations.  463 

enters  into  my  territories,  give  him  what  he  desires ;  after 
he  is  entered  there,  he  desires  of  me  iii  a  letter,  to  send  him 
somebody  to  whom  he  might  explain  himself  I  sent  to 
him  the  Marquis  of  Ferrero,  whom  you  formerly  knew  as 
my  ambassador.  Monsieur  Calinut  begins  with  general 
complaints;  and  ends  with  telling  him,  that  the  King  ex- 
pects I  should  send  into  France,  over  the  bridge  of  Beau- 
voisin,  2000  foot,  and  two  regiments  of  dragoons  of  my 
troops,  and  that  I  was  to  resolve  upon  it  in  48  hours,  in 
case  I  had  no  other  proposals  to  make.  The  Marquis  Fer- 
rero did  all  he  could,  to  let  him  see  a  second  time  the  little 
grounds  of  his  complaint,  the  great  occasion  I  had  for  my 
own  troops,  and  in  line,  oflers  him  a  league  defensive.  But 
Monsieur  Catinat  persisting  in  his  demands,  he  assures  him, 
that  I  would  send  those  troops  over  the  bridge  Beauvoisin 
into  his  Majesty's  service.  Monsieur  Catinat  seems  to  be 
very  glad  of  it,  and  told  the  Marquis  of  Ferrero,  that  hence- 
forth we  should  look  upon  his  Majesty's  troops  as  our  friends, 
and  in  assurance  of  it,  countermands  the  march  to  Grugli- 
asch,  near  Turin,  because  the  said  Marquis  had  made  some 
mention  about  it.  I  wrote  to  the  Count  Provane,  whom 
I  thought  to  be  at  Paris,  to  represent  to  the  king  what 
the  Marquis  Ferrero  had  told  Monsieur  Catinat  with- 
out any  success,  and  to  add  some  proposals  to  satisfy  the 
king  about  the  troops,  with  the  advantage  of  his  Majesty's 
service,  and  the  least  prejudice  of  my  own.  What  will  you 
say,  when  you  hear,  tiiat  neither  Monsieur  Catinat's,  nor 
my  express,  could  at  all  return ;  that  he  leaves  briskly  Veil- 
lane,  and  comes  to  Orbassan,  from  whence  he  sends  a  com- 
missary to  let  me  know,  that  the  troops  were  not  enough  to 
satisfy  the  king,  that  he  desires  some  other  assurance  of  my 
good  intentions  for  the  king's  service ;  that  he  did  not  posi- 
tively know  what  it  was,  but  believed  it  might  regard  some 
place.  That  Monsieur  Catinat  expects  an  answer  in  twen- 
ty-four hours ;  that  it  was  then  about  eight  or  nine,  and 
that  about  the  same  time  to-morrow  he  expected  some  pro- 
posals, for  want  of  which   he   should  begin  to  commit  hos- 


464  Appendix. 

tilities.  I  send  him  the  Abbot  of  Verrue ;  Monsieur 
Catinat  repeats  his  complaints,  and  desires  some  assurance 
of  my  good  intentions.  He  is  entreated  to  tell,  if  he  had 
any  power  tr-uni  the  king  to  treat.  He  answers,  that  he  has 
none,  but  that  he  may  accept  some  places  in  the  kmg's 
name.  We  request  to  know  what  place  he  expects  ;  he 
makes  some  difficulty  to  tell  it,  and  desires  we  should  guess 
it ;  at  last  he  says,  that  the  communication  of  Pignerol, 
and  the  citadel  of  Cassal  must  be  secured ;  but  says  at  the 
same  time,  they  made  no  reflection  upon  the  new  city  of 
Ast. 

The  Pope's  nuncio  goes  to  him,  in  order  to  accommodate 
matters  betwixt  us ;  he  shows  him  my  letter,  wherein  I  as- 
sure him,  that  I  was  no  ways  a  treating  against  the  King, 
no,  not  so  much  as  in  my  thoughts  ;  but  all  this  without  ef- 
fect. The  Marquis  of  Ferrero  and  the  Abbot  of  Verrue 
return  thither,  they  hear  nothing  but  the  same  things  repeat- 
ed. The  Marquis  Ferrero  returns  thither  once  more  alone, 
with  a  letter  Irom  the  Marquis  de  St.  Thomas,  wherein  he 
shows  my  readiness  to  satisfy  the  King,  with  an  assurance  of 
my  good  intentions.  He  is  extremely  surprised  to  hear 
out  of  Monsieur  Catinat's  own  mouth,  that  he  had  not 
spoken  of  an  assurance  in  the  singular,  but  in  the  plural 
number ;  that  he  had  given  it  sufficiently  to  understand  to 
the  Abbot  of  Verrue,  yet  it  seetned  to  be  the  same  thing  to 
that  abbot,  and  to  the  commissary,  to  speak  in  the  plural, 
instead  of  the  singular  number,  as  they  have  both  done. 
But  Monsieur  Catinat,  who  aimed  at  his  ends,  persisted  in 
this  opinion,  and  declared  afterwards,  that  there  was  no- 
thing but  the  citadels  of  Turin  and  Verrue  that  could  sa- 
tisfy the  King  J  that  in  case  they  were  not  in  twenty-four 
hours  put  into  his  hands,  he  could  no  longer  defer  to  com- 
mit hostilities;  as  if  the  entering  with  an  army  into  a  coun- 
try, and  to  make  them  subsist  at  the  expenses  of  the  people, 
were  great  marks  of  friendship.  And  3'et  he  would  by  no 
means,  nay,  he  had  no  power  to  treat  about  the  conditions, 
which  is,  in  plain  terms,  to  live  at  discretion. 


Proofs  and  Illustrations.  405 

In  this  great  extremity,  seeing  my  people  at  the  mercy 
•f  a  foreign  army,  I  thought  fit  to  give  myself  the  honour 
to    send   to   the  King   a   letter,  the  copy  of  which  I  have 
joined  to  this,  and  sent  it  to  Monsieur  Catinat  by  the  Count 
of  Marcena3se.     He  agreed  to  suspend  all  actions  of  hos- 
tilities,  and   dispatched   immediately  his  nephew  to  carry 
the  letter  to  the  King  with  all  possible  speed.     And,  indeed, 
his   speed  was  so  great,  that  he  was  but  few  hours  above 
a  sevennight  in  going  and  coming.    Monsieur  Catinat  gave 
me  notice   of  his  arrival  by  sending  me  his  Majesty's  an- 
swer, the  copy  of  which  I  have  also  joined  to  this.  I  confess 
I  was  mightily  troubled  to   see  a  letter  writ  with  so  much 
reserve,   and   that   did  not  give  me  the  least  sign  of  the 
king's   reconciUation  to  me,  which  I   did  expect ;  and  far 
from  giving  me  the  least  hopes  about  the  restoring  of  my 
places,  he  gives  me  sufficiently  to  understand,  that  he  re- 
quired long  proofs  of  my  affection  before  he  could  be  per- 
suaded  of  it ;  insomuch,   that  if  these   things,   altogether 
false  and  supposititious,  and  some  other  slight  ones,  could 
so   easily  persuade  him   to  the   depriving  me  of  the  said 
places,  would  he  ever  want  some  pretences  to  retain  them  ? 
I  sent,  nevertheless,  the  Marquis  Ferrero  and  the  Marquis 
of  St.   Thomas   to   Monsieur  Catinat,  with  full  power  to 
treat.     They  endeavoured  to  acquaint  themselves  with  his 
power  and  his  sentiments  :  the  first  was  in  very  good  form, 
but  the  other  little  answered  my  expectation. 

In  fine,  Sir,  after  all  the  ill  usage  I  received  from  the 
King,  I  am  sure,  if  he  would  give  himself  the  trouble  to 
hear  the  reading  of  this  letter,  he  would  not  desire  to  be 
judge  of  this  affair  ;  and  if  he  did  desire  it,  I  seriously 
believe  he  could  not  hinder  himself  from  pronouncing  in 
my  favour. 

My  chancellor  has  written  a  letter  to  Monsieur  Catinat, 
of  which  I  send  you  a  copy,  as  also  another  of  his  answer. 
After  which  having  demanded  contributions  in  my  territo- 
ries, and  I  hearing  of  nothing  but  threatenings,  was  forced 
to  accept  the  succours  which  those  that  always  looked  upon 


466  Appendix. 

me  as  a  Frenchman  had  the  generosity  to  offer  me,  in  this 
great  extremity  to  which  I   am  reduced  ;  which  I  did  not 
consent   to,  till  after  1   had  left  no  stone  unturned  to  keep 
me  from  that  necessity.  This  is  so  very  great,  that  I  do  not 
think  to  flatter  myself  so  much,  as  to  believe  that  all  Eu- 
rope will  pity  me,  without  excepting  the  most  generous  and 
just   men   in   France.     Good  God  !  how  was  it  possible  it 
should   be  for  the  king's  interest  to  oppress  a  prince,  who 
has  the  honour  to  be  so  nearly  related  to  him,  who   has 
given  him  such  substantial  marks  of  his  zeal  and  affection, 
whose  countries  are  surrounded  by  those  of  his  Majesty'Sj 
and  who  by  the  rest  of  the  world  is  taken  to  be  a  French- 
man ?     What  will  those  princes  say,  which  France  would 
fain  separate  from  the  contrary  party  ^     Is  it  not  as  much 
as  to  let  them  know,  that  they  have  nothing  to  hope,  and 
every  thing  to  fear,  considering  the  usage  I  receive  I     Is 
the   world   not  enough   informed   of  the    vast    designs    of 
France,  without  discovering  them  so  much  in  desiring  to 
drive  me  out  of  the  citadel  of  my  ordinary  residence,  and 
another  very   considerable    place  ^     Will    the    princes  of 
Italy  believe  that  it  is  in  order  to  defend  them  from  their 
enemies,  of  which  they  have  none  ^  or,  to  open  the  way  to 
some  greater  conquests,  making  the   beginning  with   him, 
who  far  from  fearing  any  enterprises  from  him  had  all  the 
reason  in  the  world  to  rely  on  his  protection  ^     Pardon, 
Sir,  the  prolixity  of  this  letter,  and  do  not  ascribe  it  to  any 
thing  but    to  justify   to  you  my  behaviour,  after  having 
made  use  of  all  human  prudence  could  furnish  me  with. 
I  hope  that  God  Almighty  will  not  abandon  the  justice  of 
my  cause ;  that  he  will  fortify  my  weakness ;  and  that  the 
consolation  of  a   prnice,   whom  they   endeavour   to   drive 
out  of  a  part  of  what  he  has  inherited  from  his  ancestors, 
will  be  the  darling  work  of  Divine  providence.     Pity  me 
in  my  misfortunes,  but  assure  yourself,  that  having  nothing 
to  reproach  myself  with,  I  look  upon  it  with  courage ;  and 
in  case  I  should  happen  to  be  a  prince  without  a  country, 
(w  hich  by  God's  assistance,  1  hope  I  shall  not)  I  will  never- 


Proofs  and  Illustrations.  467 

theless  maintain  those  sentiments,  and  that  greatness  of  soul, 
which  is  answerable  to  my  birth,  and  wortli y  ol"  a  son,  that 
intends  to  honour  you  as  a  father  all  his  lifetime,  and 
that  ever  will  be  entirely  yours. 

Since  the  writing'  of  this  letter,  I  have  received  one  from 
Monsieur  Carinat,  which  I  send  you  a  copy  of,  as  also  of 
the  answer  I  sent  him,  and  how  he  replied  to  it.  Methinks 
that  after  what  had  passed,  I  am  not  in  the  wrong  to  desire 
to  treat  in  writing,  and  that  all  the  world  will  easily  agree, 
that  it  is  a  mark  of  the  uprightness  of  my  proceedings, 
and  the  sincerity  of  my  intentions,  assuring  you  again, 
tliat  what  Monsieur  Catinat  mentions  about  a  precedent 
engagement,  is  nothing  but  a  mere  pretence,  and  that  I 
have  had  none,  either  with  the  F^mperor  or  the  Catholic 
King,  till  tlie  third  of  this  month,  when  Monsieur  Catinat 
cut  off  all  manner  of  treaties,  and  intimated  contributions 
to  several  of  my  territories. 


No.    17. 

Letter  from  his  Royal  Highness  the  Duke  of  Savoy,  to  the 
French  King,  May  the  20th,  1690. 

Monsiengeur, 

I  AM  infinitely  troubled  to  see  that  those  false  colours 
with  which  I  have  been  blackened  in  the  eyes  of  your 
Majesty,  have  had  so  much  power  over  your  mind,  as  to 
deprive  me  of  the  honour  of  your  favour,  which  I  have 
always  valued  more  than  my  life.  The  only  consolation  I 
have  left  me  in  this  extremity  is,  that  I  have  not  drawn  this 
misfortune  upon  me  by  the  least  want  of  zeal  for  your 
royal  service,  of  which  I  will  make  a  glory  to  continue  to 
give  some  real  marks  on  all  occasions.  When  Monsieur 
Catinat  told  me,  you  desired  part  of  my  troops,  of  which 
I  have  not  very  many,  I  assured  him  that  your  Majesty  was 
master  of  them,  and  that  they  were  to  pass  the  mountains 


46S  Appendix. 

immediately  to  go  to  serve  your  Majesty.  He  has  since 
given  me  to  understand,  that  your  will  and  pleasure  was, 
to  have  some  places  in  Piedmont  in  assurance  of  my  good 
intentions  :  and  although  your  Majesty  stands  in  no  need 
of  any  other  assurance,  than  that  of  my  heart,  which  is  en- 
tirely yours,  yet  having  desired  Monsieur  Catinat  to  speak 
somewhat  plainer,  and  he  having  at  last  told  me  that  the 
citadels  of  Turin  and  Verrue  were  aimed  at,  I  am  ready  to 
give  your  Majesty  so  substantial  a  proof  my  submission,  as 
the  delivery  of  those  two  places  into  your  hands  will  be, 
humbly  intreating  you,  that  you  would  be  pleased  to  do  it 
upon  such  terms,  as  a  prince- that  has  the  honour  to  be  so 
nearly  related  to  you,  may  reasonably  expect  from  the  good- 
ness and  generosity  of  so  great  a  king  ;  but  if  your  Majesty 
would  be  pleased  to  make  choice  of  some  other  place  in 
Piedmont  instead  of  the  citadel  of  Turin,  that  I  might  con- 
tinue to  live  there  with  the  dignity  of  a  Sovereign,  your 
Majesty  would  infinitely  oblige  me.  I  humbly  implore 
your  Majesty's  generosity  for  it,  as  also  that  you  would  be 
pleased  to  hear  the  Count  of  Provance,  my  ambassador, 
who  will  sufficiently  satisfy  your  Majesty  about  the  ill- 
grounded  suspicions  your  Majesty  has  been  inspired  with 
concerning  my  behaviour,  and  who  will  renew  to  your  Ma- 
jesty all  the  sincere  protestations  of  zeal  and  respect,  assur- 
ing you,  that  I  intend  to  be  all  my  lifetime,  &,c. 


No.  18. 

The  French  King's  answer  to  his  Royal  Highness  the  Duke 
of  Savoy's  Letter,  dated  May  the  24iA,  1690. 

Dear  Brother, 

I  UNDERSTAND  with  great  satisfaction,  by  your  letter 
which  Monsieur  Catinat  has  sent  me,  the  resolution  you 
have  taken  to  put  into  my  hands  the  citadels  of  Turin  and 


Proofs  and  Illustrations.  469 

of  Verrue ;  and  seeing  that  the  Count  of  Provance  Is  not 
here,  and  that  if  I  should  stay  for  his  arrival,  to  hear 
what  he  has  to  say  to  ine  on  your  part,  there  would  be 
wasted  a  considerable  time,  in  which  the  march  of  my 
troops  towards  the  dutchy  of  Milan  would  be  put  ofl';  I 
thought  fit  to  send  to  the  Sieur  Catinat,  full  powers  to 
receive  those  places  in  my  name ;  and,  in  the  mean-time, 
I  am  willing  to  assure  you,  by  this  letter,  that  I  have  been 
very  much  troubled  to  find  myself  obliged  to  give  orders 
for  my  troops  to  enter  your  territories ;  and  that  as  soon  as 
I  shall  have  no  cause  to  doubt  of  your  zeal  for  my  interest, 
and  of  that  constant  afi'ection  for  my  crown,  of  which  most 
of  your  ancestors  have  given  many  substantial  proofs,  I 
will  render  you  my  friendship  with  pleasure,  and  do  that  for 
you  which  your  near  relationship  gives  you  reason  to 
hope  for. 

I  am,  &;c. 


No.    19. 

Letter  from  his   Royal   Highnesses    Chancellor  to  Mons. 
Catinat,  June  the  3d,  1690. 

Sir, 

His  Royal  Highness  has  been  extremely  troubled  to  un^ 
derstand,  by  what  I  have  told  him  of  your  invincible  re- 
sistance to  accept  the  proposals  I  have  made  you  in  his 
name,  the  misfortune  he  has  not  to  be  able  to  satisfy  his 
Majesty,  and  to  see  that  so  many  extraordinary  endeavours 
of  his  to  please  him,  have  been  altogether  unsuccessful. 
It  is  without  doubt  the  efl'ect  of  my  little  capacity  to  make 
them  agreeable,  which  I  am  also  heartily  sorry  for.  But 
thinking  that  his  Royal  Highness's  proposals  concerning 
the  places  and  troops,  were  so  very  liberal  and  just,  that 
they  wanted  no  art  of  rhetoric,  I  received  with  pleasure 
his  orders  to  make  them  known  to  you.     I  wish  with  aJi 

Vol.  H.  3  P 


470  Jtppendix. 

my  heart  that  you  would  be  pleased  to  assist  me  with  your 
great  experience  of  the  aflairs  of  the  world,  to  find  out 
some  other  more  successful  expedient.  I  will  do  all  that 
lies  in  my  power  to  make  them  acceptable  to  his  Royal 
Highness,  as  also  to  let  you  see,  by  my  care,  the  honour  I 
have  to  be  really  yours,  &ic. 


No.  20. 

Monsieur  Catinat^s  Answer  to  the  (Jhancellorh  Letter,  dated 
June  the  Sd,  1690. 

Sir, 

I  HAVE  received  the  letter,  you  have  done  me  the  honour 
to  write  to  me,  which  I  find  to  be  written  with  the  same 
spirit  as  all  his  Royal  Highness's  ministers  have  discovered 
to  me  in  our  conversations.  I  have  found  nothing  tliat  has 
been  positive  in  all  the  treaties  I  have  had  the  honour  to 
have  about  a  business  of  so  great  consequence,  except  the 
promises  that  have  been  made  to  the  King  by  his  Royal 
Highness,  in  a  letter  which  he  has  had  the  honour  to  write 
to  him  with  his  own  hand. 

I  am,  &;c. 


No.  21. 

Monsieur  Catinafs  Letter  to  his  Royal  Highness,  June  the 
16th,   1690. 

Monsiegneur, 

I  HAVE  to  day  received  an  express  from  his  Majesty,  with 
such  orders  as  may  furnish  some  means  to  your  Royal 


Proofs  and  Illustrations.  471 

Highness  to  help  yourself  out  of  those  extremities  which 
you  yourself  have  drawn  upon  you.  For  this  reason  1 
beseech  your  Royal  Highness  to  send  to  me  two  or  three 
of  your  ministers,  in  whom  you  have  most  confidence,  that 
I  may  make  it  known  to  them ;  for  the  going  and  coming 
of  which  I  take  the  liberty  to  send  you  passports.  I  hum- 
bly beseech  your  Royal  Highness,  to  do  me  the  honour  to 
believe  that  I  am,  with'deep  respect,  &;c. 


No.  22. 

His  Royal  Highnesses  Answer  to  Monsieur  Catinafs  Letter, 
dated  June  the  17 th,  1690. 

You  have  as  many  witnesses  as  you  have  soldiers,  of 
what  I  have  suffered,  to  show  my  respect  for,  and  readiness 
to  serve,  the  King  your  master.  You  know  I'  consented  to 
your  demand,  about  some  of  my  troops  going  into  France ; 
that  you  showed  a  great  satisfaction  about  it  to  the  Marquis 
Ferrero,  as  if  it  had  been  your  only  design  in  my  regard, 
and  that  you  told  me  we  should  henceforth  look  upon  the 
king's  troops  as  friends.  Nevertheless,  some  few  days 
after,  you  wanted  some  of  my  strong  places  ;  afterwards 
you  desired  that,  contrary  to  your  first  proposals,  my 
troops  were  not  to  go  into  France,  but  to  join  your 
army  in  order  to  act  against  the  dutchy  of  Milan.  After 
which  you  see  that  I  have  reason  to  wish,  that  in  case  you 
have  any  thing  to  propose  to  me,  you  would  do  it  in  wri- 
ting, and  I  will  do  the  same.  This  is  all  that  I  can  say  at 
present,  in  answer  to  your  letter,  and  that  I  will  always 
preserve  those  sentiments  of  esteem  for  you,  with  which  I 
am,  he. 


472  Appendix^ 

No.   23. 

Monsieur  Catinafs  Reply  to  his  Royal  Highnesses  Ansicer, 
June  the  17th,  1690. 

Monsiegneur, 

I  HAVE  received  the  letter  your  Royal  Highness  has 
done  me  the  honour  to  write  to  me,  in  which  your  inten- 
tions are  so  clear  and  evident  to  follow  those  engagements 
you  have  embraced  a  great  while  ago,  that  it  is  needless 
to  propose  to  you  any  thing  in  writing  that  may  furnish 
the  means  to  recover  the  honour  of  his  Majesty's  favour. 
I  am,  with  all  the  respect  that  is  owing  to  you. 


€itn$val  fkntftp^ 


TO    THE    T^XrO    VOLUIMCES. 


•**9^^V***" 


Adrian,  the  Roman  emperor,  i.  197.  his  letter  to  Minutiiis 
Fundanus  in  behalf  of  the  Christians,  199. 

JErius,  endeavours  to  restore  the  simplicity  of  the  Christian 
worship,  i.  313.  denies  the  distinction  between  bishop 
and  elder,  317. 

Albert  de  Capitaneis,  appointed  papal  legate  in  France  and 
Piedmont,  ii.  204.  his  sanguinary  exploits  in  the  valley 
of  Loyse,  207.  invades  Piedmont  at  the  head  of  a  cru- 
sading army,  208. 

Aguit,  Mr.  Francis,  a  Waldensian  pastor,  apostatizes  from 
his  profession,  ii.  313.  his  repentance  and  conversion, 
313. 

Agelius,  pastor  of  the  Novatianist  church  in  Constantino- 
ple, i.  305. 

Alaric,  the  Gothic  chief,  besieges  Rome,  i.  335.  and  ulti- 
mately sacks  it,  340. 

Alligenses,  mistakes  concerning  them  rectified,  ii.  2.  were 
the  same  class  of  people  as  the  Waldenses,  5.  proceed- 
ings of  the  inquisitors  against  them,  103.  their  extraor- 
dinary conduct  at  the  siege  of  Beziers,  113.  are  massa- 
cred by  the  crusading  army,  114.  the  sect  nearly  exter- 
minated in  that  quarter,  128.  the  manner  in  which  they 


476  Index. 

were  treated  by  the  Inquisitors,  129.  the  immense  multi- 
tudes of  them  that  were  apprehended  in  France,  130. 

Albinus,  state  of  Judea  under  his  government,  i.  160. 

Alcuin,  some  account  of,  i.  408.  note. 

Aldegonde,  Lord  of,  a  Flemish  nobleman,  dictates  the 
Compromise,  ii.  256. 

Alexander  and  Arius,  how  they  represented  each  other's 
views  of  the  sonship  of  Christ,  i.  274. 

AUix,  Dr.  his  Remarks  on  the  Churches  of  Piedmont, 
quoted,  i.  393.  404.  443.  452.  ii.  30.  63.  418. 

Alva,  Duke  of,  his  sanguinary  proceedings  in  the  Nether- 
lands, ii.  261. 

Ammianus  Marcellinus,  view  of  the  conduct  of  the  clergy 
in  his  days,  i.  265.  287.  his  account  of  Julian's  attempt 
to  rebuild  the  temple,  298. 

Antichrist,  reflections  on  the  rise  of,  i.  243. 

Antioch,  in  Syria,  described,  i.  92.  its  population  and  the 
number  of  Christians  there,  in  the  time  of  Theodosius, 
310.  note. 

Antoninus  Pius,  emperor,  his  amiable  character,  i.  201. 
letter  to  the  town  council  of  Asia,  201.  his  reign  of 
twenty-three  years  favourable  to  the  Christians,  202. 

Apostles,  at  first  confined  to  Jerusalem,  i.  154.  their  subse- 
quent travels,  155. 

Arian  Controversy,  i.  271.  not  settled  by  the  decision  of 
the  council  of  Nice,  282. 

Archaologia,  the  account  there  given  of  the  Waldenses,  1. 
446. 

Arnold  of  Brescia,  his  history,  i.  448. 

Arnold  Hot,  defends  the  Albigenses  against  the  Catholic 
■  clergy,  ii.  107. 

Arnold,  Abbot  of  Cisteaux,  commands  the  first  crusading 
army  against  the  Albigenses,  ii.  120. 


Index.  47? 

Athens,  city  o^,  i.  119. 

Athenagoras,  his  apology  for  the  Christians,  i.  225. 

Athanasiiis,  his  controversy  with  Arius,  i.  286. 

AugiLstine' s  City  of  God,  i.  343.  note. 

Aurelius  Marcus,  emperor,  persecutes  the  Christians,  i.  215. 

Avignon,  city  of,  besieged  by  the  crusaders,  ii.  127. 

B. 

Barnabas  and  Saul  proceed  on  their  mission  to  the  Gen- 
tiles, i.  99. 

Baronius,  Cardinal,  quoted,  i.  406. 

Berengarius,  denies  the  real  presence,  i.  434. 

Bernard,  Si.  his  testimony  to  the  Cathari,  i.  441.  censures 
the  clergy  of  his  day,  442.  note,  preaches  against  here- 
tics, ii.  87. 

Berea,  the  first  preaching  of  the  gospel  there,  i.  118. 

Beziers,  city  of,  attacked  by  the  crusading  army,  ii.  114. 

Beziers,  Earl  of,  intercedes  for  the  Albigenses  of  his  city, 
ii.  112.  defends  Carcassone,  115.  falls  a  dupe  to  papal 
perfidy,  119. 

Bishops  of  Italy  and  the  Grisons  reject  the  church  of 
Rome,  i.  393. 

Blood  eating,  inquiry  into  its  lawfulness,  i.  211.  note. 

Bohemia,  description  of,  ii.  170.  state  of  religion  there,  171. 

Bohemian  brethren,  persecution  against,  ii.  191.  sketch  of 
their  history,  196. 

Bourg,  Sieur  de  Petit,  his  defence,  ii.  310. 

Bruys,  Peter  de,  founder  of  the  Petrobrusians,  i.  447. 

Burnet,  Dr.  his  Letters  from  Italy,  quoted,  ii.  382.  413. 
414.  415. 


Vol.  ii,  3  Q 


478  Index- 

C. 

Caius  Caligula,  his  reign,  i.  86. 

Calabria,  the  Waldenses  settle  there  in  1^70,  ii.  143.  perse- 
cuted by  Pope  Pius  IV.  274. 

Calvin,  John,  remarks  on  his  character  and  talents,  ii.  217. 

Camphell,  Dr.  George,  quoted  on  the  incongruity  of  enfor- 
cing religion  by  the  power  of  the  magistrate,  i.  270.  the 
identity  of  the  office  of  bishop  and  elder,  317.  the  origin 
of  monkery,  318.  his  opinion  of  Gregory  the  Great,  356. 

Carcassone,  besieged  by  the  crusaders,  ii.  115.  singular 
escape  of  its  people  from  the  upper  city,  120. 

Carthage,  account  of  the  persecution  there,  i.  227. 

Ccesarea,  dispute  between  the  Jews  and  Nero  concerning  it, 
i.  161. 

Castrocaro,  governor  of  Piedmont,  his  tyrannical  conduct 
towards  the  Waldenses,  ii.  291. 

Cathari,  in  Germany,  in  the  thirteenth  century,  oppose  in- 
fant baptism,  i.  443. 

Catinat,  general  of  the  French  army,  his  cruelties  towards 
the  Waldenses,  ii.  400. 

Cestius,  revolt  of  the  Jews  under  his  administration,  i.  163. 

Chandler,  Dr.  his  History  of  the  Persecutions,  quoted,  i. 
241. 

Charlemagne,  King  of  France,  crowned  by  the  pope  Empe- 
ror of  the  West,  i.  413. 

Charles  the  Bald,  raised  to  the  throne,  i.  417. 

Charles  V.  his  conduct  in  the  Netherlands,  ii.  244. 

Christianity,  state  of,  under  Trajan,  i.  186.  the  various  ob- 
stacles it  had  at  first  to  encounter,  244. 

Church  at  Jerusalem,  a  pattern  of  the  kingdom  of  Christ, 

i.  70. 
Claude  of  Turin,  aocount  of,  i.  396. 


Index.  479 

Clergy,  their  kingdom  and  that  of  Christ  not  the  same 
thing,  i.  251.  instances  of  their  ignorance,  381. 

Constanfkts  Chloras,  favours  the  Christians,  i,  254.  nomi- 
nates his  son  Constantine  to  be  his  successor,  258. 

Constantine  the  Great,  different  views  of  his  character,  i. 
261.  converted  to  Christianity,  262.  removes  the  seat  of 
government  to  Byzantium,  or  Constantinople,  263.  his 
character  and  death,  264.  changed  the  profession  of 
Christianity,  266.  his  endowment  of  churches  and  pa- 
tronage of  the  clergy,  267.  insists  on  a  uniformity  of 
profession,  268.  prohibits  paganism  by  law,  269.  his 
behaviour  in  the  Arian  controversy,  274.  convenes  the 
council  of  Nice,  275.  his  exertions  to  accommodate  dif- 
ferences among  the  clergy,  277.  banishes  Arius  and  his 
party,  280. 

Constantine  II.  Constans,  and  Constantius,  divide  the  em- 
pire on  the  death  of  their  father  Constantine  the  Great. 
i.  281. 

Constantius,  the  emperor,  favours  the  Arians,  i.  283.  re- 
flections on  his  reign,  287. 

Constantine  Copronijmus,  opposes  the  worship  of  images, 
i.  364. 

Constantine,  of  Mananalis,  founds  the  sect  of  the  Pauli- 
cians,  i.  384. 

Copin,  Bartholomew,  memoir  of,  ii.  293. 

Corinth,  the  city  of,  i.  124. 

Council  of  Constance,  burn  Huss  and  Jerome,  ii.  180. 

Council  of  JVice,  proceedings  of  the,  i.  275. 

Council  of  Trent,  its  proceedings,  ii,  253. 

Cromwell,  Ohver,  his  character  and  government,  ii.  320. 
appoints  a  public  fast  in  behalf  of  the  Waldenses,  326. 
liberality  towards  them,  and  State  Letters,  326. 

Crusades  to  Asia,  history  of,  i.  458. 


480  Index. 

Crusades,  raised  against  the  Albigenses,  ii.  106. 
Cumanus,  state  of  Judea  under  his  government,  i.  158, 
Cyprian,  of  Carthage,  his  letters  quoted,  i.  235. 


D. 


Damascus,  city  of,  described,  i.  82. 
Decius,  the  emperor,  persecutes  the  Christians,  i.  240. 
Diocletian,  the  emperor,  persecutes  the  Christians,  i.  256, 
Domitian,  the  Roman  emperor,  his  character,  i.  182. 
Dominic,  founder  of  the  inquisition,  ii.  86. 


E. 


Edict  of  JVantz,  effects  of  its  revocation,  ii.  383. 

Echard,  an  inquisitor,  after  persecuting  the  Waldenses,  be- 
comes a  convert  to  their  profession,  and  suffers  martyr- 
dom, ii.  142. 

Ecolampadius,  his  letter  to  the  Waldenses,  ii.  222. 

Egbert,  a  monk,  his  account  of  the  Cathari,  i.  442. 

Ephesus,  origin  o{  the  Christian  church  there,  i.  128. 

Elector  Palatine,  his  letter  to  the  Duke  of  Savoy  in  behalf 
of  the  Waldenses,  ii.  286. 

Epicureans,  at  Athens,  their  tenets,  i.  120. 

Eusehius,  of  Caesarea,  how  he  describes  the  state  of  the 
Christian  profession  previous  to  the  Deciau  persecution. 
i.  243.  his  account  of  the  council  of  Nice,  276. 

Evervinus,  of  Stainfeld,  his  letter  to  St.  Bernard,  i.  438. 

Exarchate,  of  Ravenna,  i.  335. 

F. 

Felix,  state  of  Judea  under  his  government,  i.  159. 
Festus,  state  of  Judea  under  his  government,  i.  160. 


Index.  481 

Florus,  Gessius,  state  of  Judea  under  his  government,  i. 

161. 
Fontenoy,  sanguinary  battle  of,  i.  418. 
for,  Hon.  Charles  James,  his  History  of  James  II.  quoted, 

ii.  198.  his  opinion  of  Oliver  Cromwell,  321.  note. 
France,  kings  of,  seated  antichrist  on  his  throne,  i.  407. 
Francis  I.  King  of  France,  conquers  Piedmont,  ii.  275.  is 

entreated  by  the  pope  to  persecute  the  Waldenscs,  275. 
Frederic  II.  his  four  sanguinary  edicts  against  heretics,  ii. 

89. 
Fuller,  Mr.  A.  quoted  against  the  eating  of  blood,  i.  211. 

note. 


Galba,  succeeds  Nero  as  emperor,  i.  157. 
Galerius,  emperor  of  Rome,  his  horrid  cruelty  to  the  Chris- 
tians, i.  257.  recall  of  his   sanguinary  edicts,  and  his 

shocking  death,  260. 
Gastaldo,  his  order  against  the  Waldenses,  ii.  303. 
Geneva,  receives  the  exiled  Waldenses,  ii.  412. 
Gibbon,  Mr.  his  Roman  History  quoted,  i.  185.   195.  198. 

259.  288.  295,  297.  303.  311.  322.  329.  335.  note.  384. 

387. 
Gothic,  invasion  of  the  Roman  empire,  i.  334. 
Gratian,  the  emperor,  espouses  the  orthodox  party,  i.  308. 
(xreatliead.  Bishop  of  Lincoln,  ii.  149.  withstood  the  see  of 

Rome,  151. 
Gregory  JVazianzen,  his  remark  on  the  clergy  of  his  times, 

i.  288. 
Gregory  I.  (the  Great)  raised  to  the  papal  chair,  i.  346. 

estimate  of  his  character,  351. 
Gregory  II.  (Pope)  his  two  letters  to  the  emperor  Leo,  i. 

360. 


482  Index. 

Gitgory  III.  his  letter  to  the  emperor  Leo,  i.  363. 

Gregory  IX.  e\<:ommunicates  the  emperor,  and  deprives 
him  of  his  crown,  ii.  138. 

Gros,  Mr.  Peter,  a  Waldensian  pastor,  his  fall  and  recove- 
ry, ii.  313. 

H. 

Henry  the  G?-ea^,  Emperor  of  Germany,  i.  421. 

Henricians,  some  account  of,  i.  447. 

Herod  Agrippa,  incurred  tlie  displeasure  of  Tiberius,  i.  93. 

kills  James  the   apostle,  and    imprisons  Peter,  94.  his 

pride,  blasphemy,  and  death,  97. 
Hincmar,  Archbishop  of  Rheims,  boldly  opposes  the  papal 

chair,  i.  420. 
Holy  Spirit,  effusion  of,  i.  64. 
Huss,  John,  some  account  of,  ii.  174. 

I. 

Ignatius,  sent  from  Antioch  to  Rome,  and  put  to  death,  i, 
196. 

Images,  the  worship  of,  traced  to  its  source,  i.  357. 

Inquisition,  some  account  of,  ii.  84. 

Inquisitors,  their  proceedings  against  the  Waldenses,  ii.  137. 

Irene,  the  Greek  empress,  her  zeal  for  the  worship  of  ima- 
ges, i.  367. 

Irenaus,  his  account  of  the  persecution  of  the  churches  of 
Vienna  and  Lyons,  i.  207. 

J. 

James,  the  son  of  Zebedee,  his  death,  i.  94. 
James,  writer  of  the  epistle,  his  death,  i.  156. 
Jerome,  his  attack  on  Vigilantius,  i.  327. 


Index.  483 

Jerome,  of  Prague,  some  account  of,  ii.  1 70. 

Jerusalem,  Clirist's  predictions  concerning,  i.  156.  is  be- 
sieged and  taken  by  the  Romans,  17G. 

Jesus  of  JVaznreth,  his  baptism,  ministry,  doctrine,  and 
mirndes,  i.  57.  his  death  and  resurrection,  62. 

Jews,  their  insurrection  at  Cccsarea,  i.  161.  their  revolt  un- 
der Gessius  Florus,  162.  sketch  of  their  war  with  the 
Romans,  163.  estimate  of  the  numbers  of  them  killed 
during  the  war  and  siege  of  Jerusalem,  177. 

Job,  remark  on  his  history  and  writings,  i.  371. 

John  the  Baptist,  his  preaching,  i.  56. 

John  of  Gischala,  i.  167. 

Josephus,  the  Jewish  historian,  some  account  of,  i.  165,  note. 

Jovian,  the  emperor,  favours  the  Christians,  i.  302. 

Judea,  OYigm  of  the  war  there,  i.  157. 

Julian,  the  emperor,  view  of  his  reign,  i.  299. 

Justin  Martyr,  his  apologies  for  the  Christians,  i.  205.  suf- 
fers martyrdom  at  Rome,  206. 

Justus  Ldpsitis,  his  enumeration  of  the  Jews  Jvilled  during 
the  Avar  and  siege  of  their  cit}',  i.  177. 

K. 

Kingdom  of  the  Messiah,  the  subject  of  prophecy,  i.  55.  its 
erection  at  Jerusalem,  69.  description  of  its  subjects  and 
laws,  70. 

L. 

Lactantius,  some  account  of,  i.  275.  note. 

Landgrave  of  Hesse  Cassel,  his  letter  to  the  Duke  of  Sa- 
voy in  favour  of  the  Waldenses,  ii.  348. 

Leo,  the  Greek  emperor,  his  contests  with  the  Roman  pon- 
tiffs concerning  images,  i,  359. 


484  Index. 

Lesna,  in  Poland,  destroyed  by  the  Catholics,  ii.  368. 

LimborcK's  History  of  the  Inquisition,  quoted,  ii.  84.  cha- 
racter of  that  work,  85.  note.  86.  106.  135.  141. 

Lollards,  some  account  of,  ii.  166. 

Lothaire,  King  of  France,  behaviour  to  his  father,  i.  416. 

Louis  XII.  King  of  France,  condennis  the  conduct  of  the 
inquisitors  against  the  Waldenses,  ii.  68. 

Louis  XIF^.  his  detestable  conduct  towards  the  Duke  of 
Savoy,  ii.  382. 

Lucifer,  Bishop  of  Cagliari,  in  Sardinia,  i.  313. 

Ludovicus-  Pius,  (Lewis  the  Meek)  King  of  France,  his 
reign,  i.  414. 

Liither,  his  testimony  in  favour  of  the  Waldenses,  ii,  75. 
strictures  on  his  character,  216. 

Lyons,  persecution  of  the  church  there,  i.  207. 

M. 

Macrinus,  the  Roman  emperor,  his  character  and  death,  i. 

232. 
Maximin,  emperor,  i.  234. 
M'-Laine,  Dr.  his  plea  for  human  inventions  in  religious 

worship,  i.  314. 
Mahomet,  the  Arabian  impostor,  his  history,  i.  369. 
Manichceans,  a  view  of  their  system,  ii.  25. 
Melancthon,  Philip,  ii.  215. 
Meliio,  Bishop  of  Sardis,  his  apology  for  the  Christians,  i. 

204. 
Merindole,  in  France,  destroy  ed  by  the  Catholics,  ii.  227. 
Middleton,  Dr.  quoted  on  the  superstition  of  the  Catholic 

fathers,  i.  327. 
Milton,  his  testimony  in  favour  of  the  Waldenses,  ii.  79.  his 

Sonnet,  323.  and  letters  in  behalf  of  the  Waldenses, 

326. 


Index.  485 

Minucius  Felix,  converted  to  Christianity,  and  wrote  au 
eloquent  defence  of  it,  i.  222. 

Miriam,  affecting  account  of  her,  during  the  siege  of  Jeru- 
salem, i.  173. 

Monkery,  its  rise  and  progress,  i.  319. 

Moors,  their  expulsion  from  Spain  by  the  inquisition,  ii.  98. 

Montfort,  Simon,  earl  of,  commands  the  crusading  army 
against  the  Albigenses,  ii.  120. 

Monthly  Review,  quoted,  ii.  417. 

Morland,  Sir  S.  his  embassy  to  the  Duke  of  Savoy,  ii.  326. 

Muret,  battle  of,  singular  disclosure  made  after  it,  ii.  132. 
note* 

N. 

JVeaPs  History  of  the  Puritans,  corrected,  ii.  358. 

JVero,  the  emperor,  his  cruel  treatment  of  the  Christians,  1. 

151. 
J^erva,  the  Roman  emperor,  his  character,  ii  183. 
Netherlands,  state  of  religion  there  in  the  sixteenth  century, 

ii.  243. 
JVicene  creed,  i.  278. 
JVicomedia,  the  capital  of  Bithynia,  becomes  die  residence 

of  the  Roman  emperors,  i.  255. 
J\fovatian,  withdraws  from  the  communion  of  the  church  of 

Rome,  i.  290.  his  principles  and  conduct  vindicated,  292. 

note, 

O. 

Ojfede,  governor  of  Provence,  his  horrid  treatment  of  the 

Waldenses,  ii.  238. 
Origen,  some  account  of,  i.  235. 

Vol.  II,  3R 


486  Index. 

P. 

Paganism,  its  fall  described  in  New  Testament  prophecy^ 
i.  311. 

Paterines,  their  origin,  principles,  increase,  manners,  and 
behaviour,  i.  454. 

Paul,  the  apostle,  his  history  and  travels  sketched,  i.  80. 

Paulicians,  sect  of,  i.  384. 

Paulinus,  of  Aquileia,  some  account  of,  i.  393. 

Pelagius,  his  description  of  the  sacking  of  Rome,  i.  340. 
note. 

Peter,  the  apostle,  his  preaching  on  the  day  of  Pentecost, 
i.  66.  is  imprisoned  by  Herod,  but  delivered  by  an  angel, 
95. 

Peter  de  Bruys,  some  account  of,  i.  447. 

Philip  II.  King  of  Spain,  his  character  and  history,  ii.  245, 
celebrates  an  auto-de-fe,  250.  puts  his  own  son  to  death, 
"267. 

Pkilippi,  Paul's  preaching  there,  i.  1 12. 

Piedmont,  derivation  of  the  name,  i.  388.  geographical  de- 
scription, fertility,  Sic,  389.  progress  of  Christianity  in, 
405.  its  inhabitants  enjoy  toleration  for  three  centuries, 
ii.  134.     See  further  under  the  article  fValdenses. 

Pionessa,  Marquis  of,  his  inhuman  treatment  of  the  Wal- 
denses,  ii.  306. 

Pliny's  letter  to  Trajan,  i.  186. 

Poggio,  of  Florence,  his  account  of  Jerome  of  Prague,  ii. 
181. 

Polycarp,  bishop  of  Smyrna,  his  martyrdom,  i.  204. 

Poland,  persecution  of  the  Waldenses  there,  ii.  370. 

Pothinus,  pastor  of  the  church  in  Lyons,  his  death,  i.  214. 

Prcetextatus,  a  heathen,  his  witticism  respecting  the  bishops 
of  Rome,  i.  289. 


Index.  487 

Prince  of  Orange,  favours  the  Protestants,  ii.  248.  his  en- 
hghtcned  views,  255.  a  fine  speech  of  his,  259. 

Printing,  origin  and  happy  effects  of,  ii.  2C8. 

Provence,  a  province  of  France,  horrible  proceedings 
against  the  VValdenses  there  in  the  sixteenth  century,  ii. 
225. 

Pyrenean  mountains,  described,  1.  390. 

Q. 

^uadratus,  of  Athens,  writes  an  apology  for  the  Christians, 
i.  198. 

Quarrel  between  Pope  Gregory  IX.  and  the  Emperor  Fre- 
deric II.  impeded  the  progress  of  the  inquisition,  ii.  137. 

R.  » 

Ravenna,  the  residence  of  the  emperor  Honorius,  i.  335. 
Rankin,  Dr.  his  History  of  France,  quoted,  j.  434  Stc,  ii. 

6,  &,c. 
Reinerius  Saccho,  his  account  of  the  Waldenses,  ii.  19.  his 

testimony  to  their  purity,  70.   describes  their  itinerant 

preachers,  71.   appointed  legate  of  the  Pope,  and  sent 

against  tlie  Waldenses  in  France,  103. 
Religion,  state  of,  about  the  time  of  the  Reformation,  ii.  198. 
Raymond,  Earl  of  Toulouse,  refuses  to  expel  the  Albigen- 

ses,  ii.  109.  shamefully  treated   by  the  court  of  Rome, 

111.  and  recovers  his  dominions,  124.  his  death,  125. 
Raymond,  Roger,  Earl  of  Beziers,  incurs  the  displeasure 

of  the  court  of  Rome  by  protecting  the  Albigenses,  ii. 

126. 
Robertson,  Dr.  quoted  on  the  Gothic  invasion,  i.  333.  on 

the  improper  deference  shown  to  the  clergy,  343.  on  the 

spirit  of  the  inquisition  in  Spain,  ii.  96. 


488  Index. 

Robinson^  Mr.  R.  his  defence  of  Novatian,  i.  292.  his  ac- 
count of  the  sect  of  the  Paterines,  455.  mistakes  the  prin- 
ciples of  the  Albigenses,  ii.  25.  his  uncandid  treatment  of 
the  Waldenses,  26.  note,  his  Memoirs  of  tlie  Reformation 
in  France,  quoted,  199. 

Rome,  the  city  of,  described,  i.  145.  persecution  of  the 
church  there,  151.  contentions  for  its  bishoprick  in  the 
fourth  century,  288.  besieged  by  Alaric  and  his  Gothic 
hordes,  335.  its  extent,  population,  and  grandeur,  note. 
335.  captured  by  Alaric  and  sacked,  340. 

Roman  Empire,  its  state  at  Nero's  death,  i.  157. 

Roscoe^s  Life  of  Leo  X.  quoted,  ii.  220. 


S. 


Sadoletus,  bishop  of  Carpentras,  treats  the  Waldenses  kind- 
ly, ii.  235. 

Saluces,  the  marquisate  of,  described,  ii.  297. 

Serenus  Granianus,  proconsul  of  Asia,  remonstrates  with 
Adrian  on  his  treatment  of  the  Christians,  i.  199. 

Severus,  the  emperor,  his  severe  treatment  of  the  Christians, 
i.  216. 

Sigismundy  the  emperor,  his  duplicity  to  Huss,  ii.  178. 

Simeon,  a  Greek  officer,  sent  to  destroy  the  Paulicians, 
becomes  a  convert  to  the  faith,  and  sufiers  martyrdom,  i. 
386. 

Sisinnius,  an  elder  of  the  Novatianist  church  in  Constanti- 
nople, i.  306.  interesting  anecdotes  concerning  him,  note. 
306. 

Sleidan,  John,  his  account  of  the  cruelties  exercised  on  the 
Waldenses  in  France,  ii.  225. 

Sonship  of  Christy  how  mistaken  by  both  Athanasians  anil 
Arians,  i.  272. 


Index.  489 

Spain,  establishment  and  influence  of  the  hiquisition  in  it, 

ii.  96. 
Stephen,  the  protomartyr,  his  eloquent  defence  and  death, 

i.  80. 
Stoics,  at  Athens,  their  tenets,  i.  120. 
Swiss  Cantons  J  their  proceedings  in  behalf  of  the  Walden- 

ses,  ii.  321.  332.  350.  356.  378.  Sic.  their  kind  reception 

of  the  unhappy  exiles,  413. 


Tacitus,  his  character  of  Nero,  quoted,  i.  152. 

Temple,  set  on  fire  by  the  Roman  army,  plundered,  and 
destroyed,  i.  176. 

TertulUan,  presbyter  of  Carthage,  his  Apology  for  the 
Christians,  i.  218. 

Thuanus,  (De  Thou)  his  account  of  the  Waldenses  in 
France,  ii.  69,  and  of  the  cruelties  inflicted  on  them  in 
the  sixteenth  century,  230. 

Tiberius  Casar,  character  of  his  reign,  i.  86. 

Tiberianus,  his  treatment  of  the  Christians  in  Syria,  i.  194. 

Titus,  accompanies  his  father  Vespasian  into  Judea,  i.  166. 
succeeds  his  father  in  the  command  of  the  army,  170.  his 
efforts  to  save  the  temple,  175.  razes  the  city  to  its  foun- 
dation, 179.  succeeds  his  father  as  emperor,  182. 

Themistius,  his  oration  to  the  emperor  Jovian,  i,  303. 

Theodosius,  the  great,  advanced  to  the  imperial  dignity,  i. 
308.  enforces  uniformity  of  religious  profession,  309. 
abolishes  the  Pagan  worship  by  law,  310. 

Theodora,  the  Greek  empress,  her  persecution  of  the  Pauli- 
cians,  i.  387. 

Thessalonica,  origin  of  the  church  there,  i.  116. 


400  Index. 

Ihulonse,  the  rendezvous  of  the  Albigenses,  taken  by  the 

army  of  crusaders,  ii.  128. 
Trajan,  ascends  the  throne,  i.  186.  his  answer  to  Pliny's 

letter,  189. 

U. 

Vladislaus,  king  of  Bohemia,  ii.  192. 
Unitas  Fratrum,  their  origin,  ii.  190. 

Usher,  Archbishop,  quoted  on  the  preaching  of  the  monks, 
ii.  103. 


Valentinian  and  Valens,  associated  as  emperors,  i.  303. 

Vahns,  persecutes  the  orthodox,  i.  304.  proceeds  against 
the  Novatianists,  305. 

Vespasian,  sent  by  Nero  to  subdue  the  Jews,  i.  164.  is 
elected  emperor  and  proceeds  to  Rome,  170.  remarks  on 
his  reign,  181. 

Victor  Ainadeus,  Duke  of  Savoy,  extirpates  the  Waldenses 
from  Piedmont,  ii.  381. 

Vignaux,  Mr.  pastor  of  a  Waldensian  Church,  his  history 
of  the  Waldenses  referred  to,  ii.  77.  his  compassion  for 
his  suffering  brethren,  303. 

Vigilaniius,  his  opposition  to  the  system  of  monkery,  i.  327. 

Voltaire's  description  of  Italy,  i.  392.  how  he  character- 
izes the  spirit  of  the  inquisition,  ii.  99.  his  account  of 
Peter  Waldo,  211.  and  of  the  Waldenses,  212. 

Vieuve,  in  France,  persecution  of  the  church  there,  i.  207. 

W. 

Waldenses,  their  appearance  in  England,  i.  445.  condemned 
by  the  council  of  Oxford,  in  1166,  445.  etymology  of 


Index.  491 

the  name,  H.  1.  how  described  by  Reinerius  Saccho,  19. 
by  an  ancient  inquisitor,  28.  by  Claudius  Seisselius,  35. 
their  confessions  of  faith,  42.  their  Treatise  on  Antichrist, 
quoted,  49.  the  grounds  of  their  dissent  from  the  church 
of  Rome,  54.  their  Apologies  quoted,  56.  testimonies 
from  various  adversaries  quoted,  64.  remarkable  attesta- 
tion of  Thuanus,  69.  and  from  Reinerius  Saccho,  70. 
their  manner  of  disseminating  their  principles  among  the 
great,  72.  commended  by  Luther,  75.  by  Beza,  BuUin- 
ger,  and  others,  76.  Milton's  testimony,  79.  Dr.  Jortin's 
testimony,  81.  similarity  of  their  doctrinal  tenets  with 
those  of  Wickliff,  Luther,  and  Calvin,  83.  persecuting 
edicts  of  Frederic  IL  against  them,  89.  spread  into  Spain, 
and  edicts  issued  against  them,  136.  their  spread  into 
Germany,  Alsace,  Saxony,  and  Pomerania,  142.  in  the 
city  of  Paris,  where  they  are  cruelly  treated,  143.  their 
emigration  from  Dauphiny  into  Calabria,  143.  are  tole- 
rated in  Calabria  for  two  centuries,  145.  their  migration 
from  France  into  the  Netherlands,  and  persecutions  there, 
145.  into  Poland  and  Lithuania,  146.  and  into  England, 
148.  persecuted  in  the  valley  of  Pragela,  201.  and  in  the 
valleys  of  Fraissiniere,  Argentiere,  and  Loyse,  in  France, 
203.  their  probable  number  at  the  beginning  of  the  six- 
teenth century,  215.  how  affected  by  the  Reformation, 
216.  intercourse  between  them  and  Ecolampadius,  222. 
sanguinary  proceedings  against  them  in  Provence,  225. 
those  of  Calabria  cruelly  persecuted  and  at  last  extermi- 
nated, 272.  their  treatment  under  Francis  L  King  of 
France,  275.  again  become  subject  to  the  Duke  of  Sa- 
voy, 278,  avow  their  principles  and  plead  for  toleration, 
279.  are  threatened  and  persecuted  in  Piedmont,  281. 
plea  in  their  favour  from  the  Elector  Palatine,  286.  those 


492  Index, 

of  Saluces  driven  into  exile,  300.  inhuman  order  of  Gas- 
taldo  against  those  in  Piedmont,  303.  their  pleas  with 
the  governor  unsuccessful,  305.  their  narrative  of  the 
cruelties  exercised  on  them,  306.  two  of  their  pastors 
apostatize,  313.  their  restoration  and  confession,  313. 
proceedings  in  England  on  hearing  of  the  sufferings  of 
the  Waldenses,  319.  contributions  raised  for  their  relief, 
346.  treaty  negotiated  for  them,  350.  disappoints  their 
hopes  and  expectations.  351.  affecting  picture  of  their 
distress,  354.  the  Swiss  a  second  time  interfere  for  them, 
356.  persecution  of  their  brethren  in  Poland  and  Bohe- 
mia, 362.  those  in  Piedmont  obtain  the  favour  of  their 
prince  in  1672,  and  are  tolerated,  380.  but  dreadfully 
persecuted  under  his  son  Victor  Amadeus,  384.  who  first 
imprisons  and  then  banishes  them  from  Piedmont,  386., 
&;c. 

Waldo,  Peter  of  Lyons,  his  history,  ii.  7.  is  driven  by  per- 
secution from  Lyons,  11.  success  of  his  ministry,  12. 
retires  into  Bohemia  and  dies,  12. 

Warburton,  his  Divine  Legation  of  Moses,  quoted,  i.  191. 

White,  Dr.  his  Bampton  Lectures,  quoted  on  the  introduc- 
tion of  image  worship,  i.  357.  on  the  ignorance  of  the 
clergy  of  the  middle  ages,  381. 

Wickliff,  his  character  and  writings,  ii.  160.  his  letter  to 
John  Huss,  163.  note,  progress  of  his  doctrine,  167. 

Z. 

ZieJca,  John,  some  account  of,  ii.  187. 

THE  END. 


Date  Due 

z:--'52 

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BW901  .J79  1824  v.2 

The  history  of  the  Christian  church, 

Princeton  Theological  Seminary-Speer  Library 


1    1012  00015  6705 


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